


Auradon Plus One

by rclarkie16



Category: Descendants (2015)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2018-12-08 09:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11643288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rclarkie16/pseuds/rclarkie16
Summary: What happens when one more kid is added to the Auradon mix? No, she's not a villain, but she does have some devious tendencies. Grace is the daughter of Grumpy, and she's going to try to help the VKs adjust, her cousin get the girl, while also possibly falling in love as well.





	1. Welcome Newbies

**Author's Note:**

> Hey I just finished watching the second Descendents for the hundredth time and decided to write a fic with my own OC in the mix. Let me know what you think!
> 
> Disclaimer:I don't own Descendents or any of it's characters besides my OC.

_Everyone knows the story of how King Beast sent all the villains to the Isle of the Lost 20 years ago, but you might not know the rest of the story. You see, all the heros and villains have had children and one of them, Prince Ben, was about to make his first proclamation._

_But, before we get to that, let's talk about me._

_My name is Grace, and my dad was one of the seven dwarves that helped Snow White against the Evil Queen. Can you guess which one? I'll give you a hint, he's the opposite of happy and pretty much wears a perpetual frown._

_If you guessed Grumpy, you're correct._

_Now, I may get a little moody sometimes, but I get most of my stellar sarcastic personality from my mom._

_King Beast and Queen Belle's son soon-to-be-king Prince Ben, has decided to bring four kids from the Isle to Auradon Prep so they can have a second chance. Well, a first chance if I'm being honest._

_Jafar, Cruella, Evil Queen, and Maleficent are their parents and from what I've been told, Maleficent is the worst of the worst, but that doesn't mean her kid has to be. Plus the child of my father's enemy has also been chosen, but since Snow White is kind of a priss, I have no ill will towards the girl._

_This is definitely going to be the most exciting thing to happen in Auradon._

_Ever._

* * *

 

An incessant knocking on my door wakes me from my much needed sleep after a night of prepping for the transfer kids. I don't know who decided I would be a good fit to help them out, but if I do find out, I'll severely injure them.

"Grace!" Audrey, Sleeping Beauty's daughter, yells through the door that's keeping her away from me. "You're supposed to be out on the quad with us to meet _them_!" I don't miss the way her voice steels at the last word.

Of course she wouldn't be thrilled the daughter of her mom's nemesis is arriving today, but I'm sure it's also because the spotlight won't be on her for a day.

"Ugh," I slide my pillow over my face, "I'll meet you downstairs in five."

There's no more knocking, so I take that as a sign that the she-witch has left me alone.

Thank god.

It's too early to deal with her anyway.

Getting dressed and brushing my teeth, I pull on my shoes while simultaneously locking my dorm room behind me. Jane, my shy roommate, must already be up, no doubt running errands for her mom.

Auradon Preps marching band, which yours truly's cousin is in, is playing loud and proud as a limo drives down through the gates.

"Ben," The boy jumps as I come up behind him, his fidgety hands signaling his nerves about this, 'momentous occasion'.

"Grace," He sighs, his eyes moving from the approaching limo to me as a smile lights up his face, "I'm glad you made it in time."

Laughing, I shove his shoulder, earning a glare from Audrey who also happens to be his girlfriend, "Like I would miss this. It's the most exciting thing to happen here in years."

Whatever he's about to say, is interrupted by the sound of a struggle. Two boys, are fighting over a…towel? Putting two and two together, I know that these are both two of the kids from the Isle of the Lost. While they're still fighting on the ground, a girl with blue hair steps out of the limo gracefully, followed by another girl with purple hair.

Awesome, I wish my plain dirty blonde hair looked as cool as that.

Fairy Godmother finally makes her presence known as the purple haired girl hisses something at the two boys. While she talks, I take my time studying each of the new kids. The purple haired girl is wearing an outfit entirely made out of leather and is green and purple. She's wearing what looks like a forced smile, and looks slightly taken aback by Ben's enthusiasm.

Next, is a tall tan boy with long black hair who's also wearing leather and a beanie. From what I can see, he's incredibly built and obviously a little full of himself from the way he shamelessly flirts with Audrey.

Standing slightly behind him, is another, shorter boy with white hair and back roots. Surprise, surprise he's wearing leather that's red, white and black. He looks the most nervous out of the four, and also the youngest.

The blue haired girl is last, and it's immediately clear that she's the Evil Queen's daughter. Her outfit is mostly blue with some red paired with black leggings, and a tiara. The bright red jewel on her necklace reminds me of the poison apple her mom gave Snow White, and even thought I don't like the woman all that much I still have an aversion to the red fruit.

I tune back into the conversation just as Audrey is being her obnoxious self by telling the blue haired girl she isn't considered royalty in Auradon, even though technically, she is still a princess.

"Oh," Ben turns to look at me, "this is Grace. She's in charge of helping you guys out with anything you need."

"Wow, Benji," I throw him a sarcastic smile, "thanks for making it sound like I volunteered out of the goodness of my heart."

The four Isle kids snicker to themselves at my words. Finally, people who can understand my sarcasm and not just think I'm being serious.

I step forward to shake their hands and learn each of their names.

Carlos, Jay, Mal and Evie.

"It's nice to meet you guys," I smile genuinely, receiving a mixed response from the group.

F.G. suddenly comes between Ben and Audrey sprouting more of her sayings I'm pretty sure she keeps written in a notebook, "The doors of wisdom are never shut, but the library is open from 8 to 11 and as you may have heard, I have a thing about curfews."

With that, she skips away to spread more of her magical wisdom.

Audrey, true to her personality, informs Mal of who her parents are and says that she doesn't blame her for her mothers actions and Mal does the same, although I'm sure they're both lying through their teeth.

"Well," I turn to Evie, who's standing right next to me, "I actually don't blame you for anything your mother did. And honestly Snow White is kind of a snob, so I can't say I honestly blame her. But don't tell my dad I said that!"

Evie smiles, looking slightly confused, "Oh, my dad's Grumpy."

Her smile falls, and is replaced with a slightly apologetic look, but an elbow in the side from Mal wipes it off her face.

"How about I go grab Doug while you show them around?" I ask the future king.

He nods and with a wave to the newbies, I run off to look for my older cousin. I find him in the band room, putting away his stuff and creep up behind him slowly.

"Boo!" His head shoots out from inside his locker, smacking the top of it on the metal ceiling.

"Grace!" He glares, "How many times have I told you not to do that?"

"Not enough for me to stop doing it."

Doug sighs and closes his locker, turning to face me, "What do you need?"

"Ben wants me to help out with the new kids and I need your help!" He gives me a sheepish look and starts to shake his head, "Please Doug, I can only be so pleasant until Audrey opens her mouth."

"Fine," He sighs, "but you owe me one."

"Deal!" I grab the taller boy by the shoulders and steer him towards the stairs that lead down to the lobby, where the others will eventually meet us at. To my surprise, Ben is already there at the head of the group.

"Grace! Doug!" He calls, spotting us, "I was wondering where you were."

"You found us." I slide down the bannister of the stairs and stumble into Jay, who's hands briefly touch my shoulders to steady me.

"Grace!" Doug scolds me while coming down the stairs the normal way, "Remember the last time you did that? Jane ended up with a broken arm!"

I roll my eyes at his words, "I apologized, and her mom fixed it in like ten seconds so it was no big deal!"

"Wait," Mal tilts her head, "You broke a girls arm!"

"Yes! Why is everyone so focused on that?" The new kids actually laugh, "Moving on, this is my cousin Doug, who will be doing half of my job!"

My dopey cousin steps forward to introduce himself and is immediately distracted by Evie, which I find incredibly hilarious because it's so ironic. And once she introduces herself as Evil Queens daughter, my poor cousin melts into a puddle of awkward.

Audrey and Mal share a fake laugh and exaggerated sigh before Ben decides to interrupt, "We have to go, but if you need anything,-"

"Ask Grace and Doug." Audrey finishes, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Bye Audrey!" I wave mockingly at her as she yanks Ben away, "Thank goodness she's gone, I could feel myself losing my sanity and my urge to slap her upside the head increasing."

Jay cracks a smile and leans back, "You really don't seem like the rest of these goody-goodies."

"Thank you." I puff out my chest proudly.

"Please don't encourage her," Doug begs the Isle kids, "she really isn't the best example of the polite, nice, and valuable traits we're trying to teach you."

His words earn him a glare from each of the teens, which causes him to blush and sink into himself.

"Wow, Dougie," I pat him on the back, "These kids probably punch someone in the face if they look at them wrong, so I wouldn't imply that they don't have any valuable traits."

"I-I di-didn't-" He stutters nervously, moving slightly behind me, causing me to laugh.

"I know you didn't," I turn to the others, "Please excuse my cousin, he is Dopey's son after all. Girls, I'll show you to your dorm, and Doug will show the boys to theirs."

"Um, this way you guys," Doug calls to the group, who's headed in the opposite directions up the stairs, "Dopey, Doc, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Grumpy, and…"

"Sneezy!" Carlos reminds him as he passes by.

Stopping in front of one of the many dorm rooms, I throw open the door and gesture inside, "This is your room. If you need anything I'm just across the all. Oh and you'll probably want to redecorate."

They nod and the door is closed abruptly in my face. I'd usually insulted, but I know they probably need a breather so I just laugh and turn around to go to my room, greeting Jane as I fall onto my bed.

Auradon just got way more interesting.


	2. First Days and Old Ways

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Descendants or any of it's characters besides my OC.

Later that night, I tried to check in with Mal and Evie only to get no response after knocking a couple times. I assumed they both went to bed early so they’d be ready for their first day tomorrow, and returned to my room to finish some overdue homework. The weird thing is, after Jane fell asleep, there was more noise than usual outside the door.

It sounded like the Isle kids, but they were arguing in hushed whispers about something. Being too tired to pry like I normally did, I slipped my headphones on and fell asleep to the beats of the music.

Jane’s alarm went off at 6AM, waking me up a whopping two hours before my alarm was supposed to go off.

“Jane,” I chuck my pillow across the room at her, “I’m going to murder you!”

“Sorry,” She squeaks, jumping out of bed and rushing around,“I know it’s early, but I have a lot to due for Ben’s upcoming coronation, and there’s only so many hours in a day.”

Raising my hands to placate the girl, I roll out of bed and head the bathroom, “Fine, I’ll help you, but you owe me one.”

“Anything!”

“Whatever,” I shake my head at her enthusiasm, throwing on the first thing I pull off of the hanger in my closet. My outfit of the day consists of a burgundy colored cardigan, skinny jeans, white vans, and a brown beanie as a tribute to my dear old dad.

“Let’s head down to breakfast, because you know if I don’t eat before class, I’m going to end up giving Chad a wedgie.” Throwing open the door, I wait for her to sleep out before shutting it. We walk down to the mess hall together, but when we both get our food, Jane heads to sit with—ugh—Audrey and her crew, while my eyes are drawn to the group of four in the corner.

The four kids from the Isle of the Lost are sitting there staring at the food on their trays as if it might come to life.

“S’up guys,” I slam my tray down next to Carlos, causing the white haired boy to nearly jump out of his chair. Noticing them all staring at me, I lower the piece of bacon I was about to ingest, “What?”

“No offense,” Mal drawls, “but why are you sitting here?”

“Oh,” I turn dramatically to look at the back of the chair, “does this seat have someone else’s name on it? I wouldn’t put it past some of these kids to actually do that.” A giggle to my left draws my attention and I look over to see Evie trying to cover her smile, and Carlos on my right chokes on his water. “By the way, why aren’t any of you eating? Auradon Prep breakfast is the bomb, so much better than back home.”

“Well,” Carlos picks at a piece of toast, “back home the only food we ate was stolen. It wasn’t handed to us by a nice woman in a uniform.”

“Oh,” I look from each of their wary face, then down at the food on my plate. Never really thinking about how rough the residents of the Isle had it, my appetite kind of disappears.

“It’s no big deal, we’re used to it.” Jay picks up some egg with his fork and sniffs it cautiously before putting it in his mouth, “Mmmmmmm. This is great!”

The other three Isle kids share a look before they all dig in, making quite the mess if I do say so myself. I guess they think its pretty good because all of their trays are empty in minutes.

“Want my apple?” I hold it out to Evie, who eyes me nervously, “I never eat them, so I don’t know why they always give them to me.”

“Why don’t you?” Mal asks, nodding for the blue haired girl to take the offered fruit.

“You know, the whole poison apple thing got to me as a child, so I’ve never really been a huge fan of ‘em.” Evie frowns so I quickly add, “Totally not your fault though, it’s probably because my one cousin once faked being poisoned as a practical joke, so I shoved that apple where the sun don’t shine.”

“I’m still sorry,” The Evil Queen’s daughter says honestly, earning a sharp look from her purple haired companion. I’m pretty sure ‘villains’ don’t apologize on the Isle.

My next words are interrupted by the shrill ringing of first bell, causing the others at the lunch table to jump, making me smirk.

“That’s our queue to start moving to class. Anyone heading to Magical History, first?”

“Remedial Goodness 101,” Jay answers dully.

“That’s interesting,” My attempt to look reassuring must fail because the long-haired boy lets out a groan, “c'mon it probably won’t be that bad! Hopefully it consists of mostly multiple choice questions.”

The warning bell goes off, Carlos being the only one who’s jolted in his seat this time. I grab my bag off the chair and wave to the group.

“Goodluck!”

* * *

I made it into the classroom just as the third and final bell rang, saving me from yet another detention that I don’t need to add to my record. For a Auradon Prep girl, my file is far from spotless.

“Yo, G.” Aziz, the son of Aladdin and Jasmine fist bumps me as I slide into the seat next to him. The Arabian prince is one of my closest guy friends here and our personalities are very similar, so we have a great time playing pranks and teasing each other. “You’re right on time.”

“I’m so sorry to keep you waiting, your Highness,” I bow my head dramatically, “I know you’re lost without my greatness. Should I kiss the ground you walk on to show my deepest apologies?”

Aziz’s lips pull up in a half smirk, “No, but I will accept a kiss.” He leans towards me and points to his face.

Much to his surprise, I lean closer to him before shooting out my left arm to shove him out of his chair, laughing merrily at the look of shock that crosses his face after he lands on the ground.

“Oops,” I pull my textbook out of my bag and place it on the table, “how clumsy of me. I must have gotten some dopiness from my uncle.”

“ _Heh-hem_ ”

Ms. Merryweather is standing in the from of the class with her usual exasperated look that is saved especially for me. Her hands are on her hips as she taps her heeled toe rapidly on the linoleum floor.

“Sorry, Ms. Merryweather,” Lowering my eyes to the table top as the fairy walks closer, “I promise it won’t happen again…”

“Very well, child, see to it that it doesn’t!”

“…today” The last word is a little more than a whisper, but Aziz chokes down his laughter from his recently reclaimed seat.

“What was the dear?”

“Nothing!”

The fairy turns to the blackboard and begins to write on the lesson plan for the day and the rest of the class is relatively boring. Aziz and I bid each other farewell after I promise to stop by the Tourney field and see him play. My next three classes happen to be with Carlos, Jay and Mal respectively, and while the De Vil boy and I talked about video games, Jay kept to himself and the daughter of Maleficent tried her best to ignore me, but I managed to get a couple smirks due to my crazy antics.

Chemistry was my final class of the day, and luckily, I get to share it with my dear cousin, and to my surprise, the blue haired girl he seemed to fall apart around.

“Hi Dougie, Evie,” My bag thumps to the ground as I fall into my seat, resting my head on the cool surface of the lab table.

“Rough day?” Evie asks with a small smile, seeming to be the most friendly of the new kids, or maybe she’s just trying to be nice so that I don’t associate her with her mother.

“Ugh,” I lift my head up to look at the girl and nod, “it feels like I’m the new kid with the way all my teachers have been on me today.”

Evie shoots me a sympathetic look while my cousin just shakes his head, saying, “You’re talking as if you didn’t do anything to deserve it.”

“So, how’s your day been so far?” Completely ignoring Doug, I turn back the girl sitting next to him and she shrugs.

“It’s been okay. A lot of people are ignoring us but no one’s been outright rude.” She explains, her eyes moving from me to the boy who just sat down next to me, “There’s a lot of cute boys, though.”

Unfortunately, one of the ‘cute’ boys she’s talking about happens to be Chad Charming, who also happens to be my lab partner, and the absolute dumbest person I’ve ever met. He constantly tries to cheat off of me, and no matter how much bodily harm I threaten upon him, he just doesn’t seem to get it.

I honestly wish I could take both him and Audrey, and ship them off somewhere far, far away.

Maybe Wonderland.

Doug seems disappointed as soon as he reveals who the boy the Isle girl seems so interested in is, and a part of me feels bad for him. From what I’ve seen from the her, Evie and Doug would be a cute, ironic, but cute match.

Evie’s fawning is interrupted by Mr. Delay, who everyone pretty much ignores, asking her a question and then calling her up to the board.

It’s weird, because he never asks anyone else to answer questions on the chalkboard, and I have a feeling it has to do with who she is, rather than a random choice. This pisses me off because half of the class, including me, probably don’t know the answer to the question.

While she’s standing up there, the Evil Queen’s daughter pulls out a small hand mirror, which immediately sends chills down my spine for a reason I can’t quite seem to put together just yet.

I shake off the strange feeling and turn to my cousin to send him a reassuring smile. Now that he has Cinderella’s son to compete with, I know that all of his self-confidence has plummeted.

To my pleasant surprise, Evie is able to answer the impossible question to the dismay of Mr. Delay, while Doug mutters something about emus.

“My mistake,I forgot…”

“…to never underestimate a villain? Don’t make it again.” The girl retorts, finishing Mr. Delay’s sentence, and sitting back in her spot, smiling at Chad, who’s taken a sudden interest in her which probably has to do with her incredible answer.

Her and Chad both lean their heads on their hands, smiling at each other, while Doug signs in defeat as he rests his head in his hands, too.

The final bell rings, causing Evie to jump up and trot out of the classroom followed closely by Chad. I walk over to my cousins side of the table and pat his shoulder, sympathetically.

“Don’t worry Dougie, Chad’s so-called charm won’t work together.” He looks up at me, “Evie seems like a smart girl, so I’m sure she’ll figure out who the better catch is in no time!”

“Really?” His frown slowly starts to turn up into a hopeful half smile.

“Would I lie to you?” I’m met with a blank look that makes me grin, “Okay, I would, but not about this. I promise to help you out, but I told Aziz that I’d go to his practice, so I’ll see you later. Bye!”

I grab my bag off the floor and run out the door, heading out to the Tourney field to meet up with the Arabian prince.  
  



	3. Tourney and Spells

The Tourney field is full of action by the time I take a seat in the mostly empty bleachers, which is probably because I stopped to get a snack on the way here. I can see Aziz running around on the field in his usual manner, being the son of a former street rat making him pretty agile. Down at the bottom of the stands is Audrey and her group of cheerleaders bouncing around like a bunch of jumping beans.

One player on the field in particular catches my eye. From what I can tell with his uniform on, he's tall and muscular, and pretty quick on his feet. He knocks down just about anyone in his path, including Aziz, as he makes his way towards the danger zone. He flips over the projectiles and rams into another player before making it to the other side and rushing at a defender.

"Jay! It's me, it's Carlos!" The smaller figure waves his arms around spastically, "Stop, Jay, stop!"

So, the talented player is the son of Jafar, while the little defender is Carlos.

Jay doesn't show any sign of stopping or hearing him, so the boy crouches and protects himself with his shield, which Jay uses to propel himself up into the air and knocks down Ben who's on his team. He flicks the ball up into the air and shoots it into the goal, scoring a point for his team.

The boy does a victory dance after scaring the goalie some more, while all the cheerleaders, besides Audrey who looks extremely ticked off, jump up and down in excitement. Knowing Audrey isn't happy makes me even more impressed with the guy.

I wish I could get to the point where my presence alone just pisses her off.

A shrill whistle draws everyone's attention to Coach who's pointing right at Jay, "You! Get over here!" The team gathers around the older man as the Arabian boy jogs up to him, "What do you call that?" He doesn't leave time for a reply, "I call that raw talent! Come find me sometime, I'll show you something called a rulebook!"

He glances over at Carlos.

"Have you ever thought about band?"

_Ooooh burn!_

The team laughs, and Ben promises the coach that he'll work with the non-athletic kid. I can see Chad standing with his arms crossed and a frown on his face, clearly not thrilled with the new member of the team.

Sometimes I honestly wish I could put him and Audrey in a box and ship them to the furthest corner of the kingdom.

A tan, sweaty arm is draped around my shoulders as Aziz plops down next to me on the bleachers, grinning at me crookedly, "What'd you think Graceful?"

"Call me that one more time and I'll show you how graceful I can be when I shove that Tourney stick where the sun don't shine." I push the offending appendage off of me, earning a smirk from him, "And I think that you got your ass handed to you out there."

"What can I say?" Aziz takes off his gloves and places them in his bag, "Kid's got skills."

The lack of animosity in his voice impresses me, "That's really cool of you 'Ziz. I wish all of us," I shoot the bane of my existence a glare, "could be so mature about these things. Especially since he's the son of your dad's worst enemy."

My friend shrugs his shoulders and when he looks up to meet my eyes, there's a tingle that runs through me, "He hasn't given me any reason not to like him," He turns to glance at the boy in questions, who's leaving the field with Carlos, "and just because his dad's a bad guy, doesn't automatically make him one. There's people who aren't on the Isle that aren't necessarily 'good,' but since their parents are heroes, no one says anything."

His response actually shocks me enough to make me unable to respond. I can't believe how much he sounds like an adult, which kind of puts him in a new light.

"What?"

"I-I'm just impressed with your answer is all." I admit, my cheeks warming up with the way he smiles at me, "You'd usually say something like that with a blanket of sarcasm, so I'm just pleasantly surprised."

Just as quick as it came, the moment of maturity ends when he wiggles his eyebrows at me, "Impressed enough to make out with me?" He smirks and puckers his lips.

"Not unless Dude starts talking, your Majesty," My palm makes a small smack sound as it hits his face to push him away, "and this was fun and all, but I've got some new kids to check on!"

"Bye, Graceful! See you later!"

As I walk across the field, I throw my hand up to give him a middle fingered salute. His laughter follows me as I head towards the girls dorms.

* * *

 

The door opens after I've knocked for the second time, a blue head peaking out into the hallway. "Hey Evie, I was just coming by to see how your first day went."

"Hi, Grace." She eyes me for a moment as if searching for any signs of deception before turning to tell Mal, who must also be in the room. She says something back to Evie and the girl opens the door wider, gesturing for me to come in.

Evie shuts the door behind her and sits at one of the two desks in the room, this one holding a sewing machine and different types of fabric. Mal is spread out on her bed with an old, leather book laid out in front of her, but she immediately shuts it when I sit down on Evie's bed across from her.

"So," I say, both of them watching me somewhat suspiciously, "how'd your first day go?"

"It was okay," The girl at the sewing machine replies, smoothing out a piece of fabric, "people stared at us for a while, but no one was outright rude to our faces at least."

"That's good,"

"No offense," Mal drawls, "but why do you care?"

I tap my finger to my chin as if deep in thought before speaking, "Well, if I was new, I'd want someone who's super awesome," Mal makes a sound like she's choking, "to check on me."

"You don't have to do that. We're fine." She says curtly.

"I don't have to do anything." I cross my arms, "I want to do it." Both girls exchange skeptical glances, "Besides, you guys are a whole lot more fun than some of these prissy princes and princesses around here. I mean how's anybody supposed to have any fun when everyone's got a stick up their ass."

"What?" Evie tilts her head to the side, seemingly confused at my words, "Why would someone have a stick up their…?"

"It's a figure of speech, but I was kidding. It means that they're uptight or no fun." I inform them, but when they still don't look like they understand, I continue, "Didn't you guys have fun on the Isle?"

The girls share a look and this time the daughter of Maleficent speaks, "The only time people had fun was if they were doing something cruel or hurting someone else," Her eyes look as if they are starting to glow but it could just be a trick of the light.

"I'm sorry," Yep. Her eyes are definitely glowing, so I put my hands up in a placating manner, "I did't think about that."

"Well," Mal retorts shortly, flipping open her spell book, "you should have."

I look over to see Evie staring down at her hands sadly, so thinking fast I quickly change the subject, "Just wait until you see all the pranks Aziz and I play. One time, we put magical dye in Aubrey's body wash and she was blue for a week! Best week ever!"

My attempt to cheer them up seems to work because both girls start to giggle, which is strange because I've yet to see Mal even smile genuinely until now. Although she's probably just laughing because something bad happened to Audrey, which in its own right is hilarious. We lapse into a comfortable silence, me remembering the look on the princesses face, while they try and imagine it.

"Who's Aziz?" Evie asks innocently, looking up from her work and effectively breaking the silence. "Is he your boyfriend?"

I nearly choke on the gum I've just stuck in my mouth, sitting up straight to keep it from happening, "Aziz? My boyfriend? No way, the guy is like my best friend here." The way my face turns tomato red seems to make them think differently.

"Hmm," She hums, a smirk forming on her lips, "you sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm positive. I've known the guy since we were in diapers!" I cringe at how desperate I sound.

"Okay."

I can almost feel her amusement in the air as she turns back to her work, the sound of the machine filling the silence. Mal is looking through her book again, seemingly having ignored our exchange, but I don't miss the way her ear is slightly tilted towards our direction.

No one makes any attempt to say anything else, so I lay back on the bed and let my eyes close, the exhaustion from the busy day finally catching up to me. I'm not quite sure if the girls are uncomfortable with me napping in their room, but all my friends know that I have the ability to fall asleep just about anywhere.

The peace can only last so long until it's interrupted.

"Ugh!" The door is thrown open, and in marches a short brunette in a light blue dress, everyone jumping at the abrupt entrance.

"Jesus C….Jane?" My shy roommate turns to face me before dropping down next to me, her face set in an unusual expression for her, a frown. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Mal fixed my hair." She reaches up to twirl the now long brown locks, "Do you like it?"

The purple haired girl smirks when I raise my eyebrows at her, "Yeah, I love it, but how did you do it?"

Mal lifts up the books she's been reading since I got her, "Spell book. My mom gave it to me."

_Hmmm. That sounds pretty suspicious to me. The evilest villain in the land giving her daughter a spell book to take to Auradon. I'll have to keep my eyes on that._

"You can do magic?" She nods. "Awesome! I wish I had magic, stupid dwarf genes and not giving me better ones." I cross my arms and frown, causing the other girls to laugh before Jane hops up and starts pacing.

"I can't believe my mom said she wouldn't fix my nose! I mean she has all that power and she just doesn't use it," She's about to make a hole in the ground with how fast she's going back and forth, "it's what's on the inside that counts." She mocks her mother, which is a first for the mouse-like girl.

For once, instead of speaking without a filter, I decide to take the backseat in this conversation, my suspicion due to the spell book still on my mind.

Jane continues to complain about her mom, and how she wouldn't use the wand, which makes Mal deflate, because why would she care about the wand so much. Although she did ask F.G. about it when she first got here. The conversation quickly turns to how Mal has never had a boyfriend thanks to Evie, and then someone else joins the party.

Lonnie, daughter of Mulan—which she has to remind the Isle kids—heard about Jane's hair and now apparently everyone wants Mal to do theirs. At first, the purple haired girl refuses, but Lonnie says she'll pay her, so Evie agrees to it for Mal.

" _Beware, forswear, change the old with cool hair_."

She moves her finger as she recites the spell, Lonnie's head following the music before she flips her hair down and it grows out and curls magically.

Mal's pretty good with that spell book.

What happen's next, truly shocks me.

Both Jane and Lonnie rip their shirts, and then turn to me, expecting me to do the same.

"No thanks," I tell them with a smirk, "I'm not wearing a skirt, and I already have three pairs of ripped jeans."

They leave soon after and that leaves me with Mal and Evie, who stare at me expectantly.

"Oh, right. This isn't my room." I laugh awkwardly, standing up and brushing off my clothes, "Thanks for letting me hang out with you guys. Well, actually you should be thanking me since I usually charge for my time."

I receive blank looks, "I'm kidding…" But both girls grin and start to laugh, making me realize they were pulling my leg, "not funny! See you guys later!"

I'm halfway out the door when Evie calls out after me, making me pause, "Thank you for treating us the same as everyone else. Not many people seem to feel that way."

"You're welcome! Just don't start acting all entitled and it can stay that way," Throwing them a wink, I walk backwards, shutting the door and strutting off to the kitchen to get a bite to eat.

* * *


	4. Ditching

Thanks DescendantsFan, SAKP, and SimiS for the reviews. So I've decided that Grace's love interest is going to be Aziz, with a little Jay mixed in to create a love triangle!

Disclaimer: I don't own Descendants or any of it's characters. I only own my OC.

  
The rest of the night goes by pretty quickly.

It consists of Jane forcing me to do my homework with her new found confidence, and me trying to trick her into doing it for me. My attempts don't work in my favor, so I end up having to do it all myself. At least I won't have to worry about my teachers giving me detention for not turning it in.

Her alarm goes off a little later this morning, and I might have to thank Mal just for the fact that I got to sleep for an extra hour.

Breakfast is pretty normal, I sit with the Isle kids again, but this time, they seem much more receptive to my presence. They have a lot more food on their plates now that they know that there isn't a limit to the amount they can take.

Mal, Evie, and Jay participate in the conversation, while Carlos keeps to himself, but I'm determined to make the younger boy more at ease, at least around me. I'll have to figure out what he's into, so I can get an idea.

The warning bell sends us all on our separate ways as the school day begins.

Aziz is sitting in his seat when I get to History of Magic, smirking at me in his usual fashion.

"What's up, buttercup?"

I can feel my eyes about to fall out with how hard they roll, "Good morning, Aziz. How have you been in the twelve hours since I've seen you last?"

"Well," He crosses his arms, "since you're so obsessed with me, I'm fantastic. I got a date with Aria this weekend, you know her?"

My pencil nearly snaps in half when his words register, an uncomfortable weight settling in my stomach, and my face flushing. I turn to look out the window and realize that he's still awaiting my response, fortunately his eyes are focused on the door. "Ariel's daughter Aria?" He nods, a victorious smile forming on his lips. "That's awesome! Way to go stud!"

_Wow, I sound like his dad._

"I know, right?" Aziz leans back in his chair proudly, "I've been trying to get her to give me a chance for weeks and this morning I picked up her books after she dropped them and then she asked me out!"

Honestly, most of the time my best friend comes off as a player, but he's actually really sweet underneath all that fake swagger, which makes me feel even worse for wishing that Aria would have continued to not give him the time of day.

"Congrats!" My less than enthused take on his news is saved by Ms. Merryweather, who makes her presence known with the clearing of her throat, beginning yet another lesson in the history of magic, which isn't relevant to most of us non-magical mortals.

But I'd rather listen to this, than Aziz prattling on about his upcoming date with the sea princess.

As soon as class ends, I come to the decision that I'm going to take a mental health day and ditch the rest of my classes. At least Jane made me do all my homework the night before.

It's a really nice day in Auradon,—I mean when is it not?—So I take my stuff out to the quad and spread a sheet on it before laying down to take a nap. Hopefully none of the staff spot me and I can prevent another detention.

The warmth of the sun relieves the tension in my body and I lay my arm over my face to block the light. Sounds start to fade as I drift off into sleep, wanting to escape all my problems in the waking world.

Of course, the peace can't last for long.

It never does.

"Grace! Grace, I've been looking all over for you!"

Audrey either doesn't realize that I was asleep, or she just doesn't care, the latter seeming more likely.

Uncovering my face, I squint through the bright light to look up at the girl and Ben, who is standing slightly behind her looking more reluctant to bother me than his girlfriend seems to be.

Smart boy.

"Yes, Audrey, how can I help you on this wonderful day?" I grit out, my hands itching to shake the girl senseless.

The daughter of Aurora has no qualms marching forward with her hands on her hip, glaring down at me, "Did you see what that girl did to Jane and Lonnie's hair? Not everyone can be pretty like me!"

Now this makes sense, "First of all, that girl has a name, and second, I think it was really nice of Mal to do that for Jane and Lonnie. It's not like you don't get your hair done at the magic salon every two weeks." I roll my eyes when she fluffs out her hair indignantly, turning to acknowledge Ben, "What's up, Benji?"

The future King of Auradon gives me a warm smile as he responds, "I was hoping you could fill me in on how the new kids are doing, since you share at least one class with each of them." Then he looks at his watch and frowns, "Which you should be in right now."

"Sorry, buddy," I shrug, "I wish I could help, but I took the day off."

"Grace," He sighs, giving me that frustrated/amused look that I tend to get a lot, "you're going to be in big trouble with Fairy Godmother if she finds out you're ditching again. I thought after last year you were done with all that."

My mood immediately darkens at the mention of the events of last year, any feelings of relaxation flooding quickly out of my body, "It has nothing to do with that, I just needed to take a break."

Ben shakes his head apologetically, while Audrey looks uncomfortable at the shift in topic, remaining speechless for once.

_How dare he bring that up, he knows how long it took for me to get over it. He knows how hard it was for me to even come back to Auradon Prep because I knew how they'd all look at me. That look of pity that I absolutely despise._

"You know," The prince continues, making my gut wrench with pushed down emotions, "you still haven't talked about it with anyone, and even Aziz worries sometimes, so if you ever want to talk, I'm here."

"Why thanks, your Highness," Voice laced with venom that hasn't been there in months, I glare at the boy, "I'll remember that, but _I'm fine_."

"Grace-"

"I'm _fine_ , Ben." He shares an unbelieving look with his girlfriend, "I've been fine for months. I've moved passed it, so you and everyone else need to stop tip-toeing around me and get over it! I swear its like everyone thinks I'm made of glass or something," I roll my eyes angrily, "I'm still the same fun loving girl I've always been."

He and Audrey exchange another look, still seeming to doubt my words, but they seem to understand that I'm not going to talk about it any longer.

"Okay," Ben relents, "I'll keep Fairy Godmother from finding out, but this can't keep happening." All I can give him is a thumbs up, still feeling as if a storm is building inside me. "I'll see you later, Grace."

Audrey gives me a quick wave that I return before laying back down and getting into the same position I'd been in before they came.

For once, its Ben who's ruined my mood instead of his annoying girlfriend, and now they've both left me to drown in the memories and feelings I've been keeping down all this time.

Soft whispering alerts me to the fact that I'm not alone as something blocks the sun above me. Not really in the mood for more gossip, I groan and slide my hands down my face, "Audrey, I swear if this is about hair, I will chop all of yours off."

"Ooo, kitty can scratch!" A voice that is decidedly not Audrey responds, and I can almost hear the smirk.

Looking up, I see that it is not Audrey who's blocking my sun, but the four new kids, staring down at me with varying levels of amusement. Mal was the one who had spoken, her hands on her hips with a glint in her green eyes.

"Oh, hey guys." My voice returns to its normal tone, if not a little bit flat, but luckily they don't seem to take notice. I take a moment to study each of them, just incase they've heard any rumors or Ben's said anything to them, before relaxing when they don't appear to be acting any different.

"You weren't in class today," The purple haired girl phrases it as a statement instead of a question.

I sit up, leaning on my hands before replying, "I wasn't feeling it today, so I decided to take a mental health day and hangout here."

Four pairs of eyes share a look that I don't quite understand before turning back to study me, making me slightly uncomfortable.

"Wait," Jay scratches his head, "we can do that?"

The other three are looking at me with hope in their eyes and I feel a little bad for crushing it, "No, but that hasn't stopped me before. The teachers are used to it by now." _Or they just don't want to risk breaking the fragile girl from last year_. But of course I can't say that aloud since the group has no idea what occurred the previous year.

Jay physically deflates, letting out a long groan, while Mal rolls her eyes at his childish response, "Anyway, we were heading to lunch. Want to come?" It comes out as a question, but I cans see how uncomfortable it makes the girl to ask instead of demand.

"Wait, seriously?"

They all stare at me as if I've groan a second head, before Evie lets out a tinkling laugh, "You eat with us everyday, why are you surprised?"

"Actually, I force you guys to sit with me everyday." Nobody disagrees, making me continue dejectedly, "Don't you want a break?"

"I think we can survive," Evie glances at the rest of her friends, who give a mix of responses that all seem positive. She steps forward and holds out her hand. I glance between it and her, wondering if it's some kind of trick. "Come on, I want to get a table outside." I still don't take the offered hand, causing her to sigh, "I don't bite, Carlos does, but the rest of us don't."

"Hey! That was one time!" The small boy whines, stomping his foot. His participation in the conversation surprising me, since he usually prefers to watch from the sidelines.

It shocks me long enough for the blue haired girl in front of me to reach down, grab hold of my arm, yanking me to my feet and pulling me in the direction of the cafeteria. I turn back to the spot I was resting on and throw out my other arm, telling her I need my stuff, "The boys will get it." She says, as Mal joins us on her other side.

Jay and Carlos pick up my bag and my blanket, before following us into the mess hall. We grab our stuff, Evie making sure I take more than just a water bottle, before heading back out to the group of tables on the quad.

Aziz is sitting with some Tourney guys at one of the benches and he gives me a wave. I lift my hand to return the gesture, but a girl with red hair catches my attention. Feeling bad for the sudden rush of anger pointed at the girl, I let my hand fall back to my side and follow behind Jay, who was also waving to his new teammates, ignoring the hurt look on my best friends face as I pass him.

I participate as little as possible in the group conversation, pushing my food around my plate and forcing myself to eat because I know I'll feel worse if I don't. I manage to catch Jay and Carlos discussing the video games in their dorm excitedly, giving me an idea as to make they boys more comfortable around me, since the girls seem to be okay with me.

The group discusses the upcoming coronation, asking me where I get to stand and some of the rules. "I'm up in the balcony with you guys. Only royalty gets to be on the ground floor." That seems to interest them and soon, lunch is over and they're getting up to return to class.  
"Are you coming to Chem?" Evie asks, noticing that I'm still in my seat.

"Nah," I wave my hand in the air, "I think I'm going to go back to my room and take a nap or something." Standing up, I lift my tray from the table and smile weakly at the group, "I'll see you guys later."

I get various responses as I dump my tray into the trash and head off in the direction of the dorms, praying that some rest will lift my mood.

* * *

 

A couple hours of sleep seems to be just what I needed to put my less than favorable day behind me. I'm roused from sleep at around four, when Jane gets back from classes, the look on her face letting me know that her mother discovered that I wasn't in class today. She's only in the room long enough to warn me that F. G. is going to be having a talk with me eventually, before she runs out claiming she has plans with Lonnie.

Stretching out all the kinks left from sleep, I get out of bed and start searching my side of the room for a rectangular case, remembering Jay and Carlos' conversation during lunch earlier.

When I find what I'm looking for under a pile of my dirty clothes, I do a little victory jig, before fixing my hair and wiping the rest of the sleep from my eyes.

Dorm room behind me, I head down the hall and up a couple flights of stairs to the boys floor. And although I'm not quite sure what the room number is, I take a guess and hope I get lucky, because I really don't want Chad to be on the other side of this door.

Luck seems to be on my side and Carlos opens the door, the white haired boy eyeing me suspiciously.

"Hey, Carlos!"

He nods in greeting, but still doesn't say anything.

"Can I come in?" I wave the disk case in the air, peaking his interest, "I've got something I think you and Jay will really like."

Carlos opens the door, letting me in, and looking around outside before closing it and locking it behind him. One of the many habits I've noticed the Isle kids have, is checking to make sure no one's lurking around any corner, which makes me think that on the island people got robbed daily. My heart hurts a little knowing my new friends—if they even considered me that—haven't ever been fully able to relax.

Jay is sitting on what I assume is his bed, surrounded by a bunch of random stuff including watches, jewelry and cash. He casually places his blanket on top of it and whistles innocently as if I hadn't just watched him do it.

"Hey, Grace!" His smile looks a little too big, "What's up."

"Okay, I'm going to ignore whatever that is," I gesture to the still noticeable lump of objects he's trying to conceal, "because that's not why I'm here. I've brought you guys a gift."

"A gift?" Jay asks, narrowing his eyes, "Is this some kind of trick?"

"No tricks, I promise!" I hold up the game I'd brought the boys, "I thought you might need a better game for your console."

Carlos takes the offered game and studies the case, flipping it over and reading the back, while Jay gets a look at the name and scoffs, " _Halo_? No offense but we don't need some game about angels."

"Jay, look!" Carlos hands him the game, a more excited look on his normally cautious face. It's the most excited I've ever seen the younger boy.

"Woah. Aliens? And guns? Let's put it in!" The son of Jafar jumps off his bed and slides the disk into the console. He picks up two controllers and tosses one to Carlos, who catches it neatly. "Thanks, Grace. This looks awesome!"

"Hold your horses, guys," I pick up a stray controller from the table, placing my other hand on my hip. "Did you seriously think I'd leave without kicking your butts first?"

Both boys exchange questioning glances before grinning at me from the couch.

"Game on."

I jump over the back of the couch and land between the Isle kids, a wicked smirk forming on my lips, "Prepare to get owned." I utter as the countdown begins on the screen.

 


	5. Punishments and Late Night Snacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace gets a surprising punishment for ditching class, and then has an interesting encounter in the kitchen.

True to her word, Fairy Godmother had managed to track me down a couple days later. Early Thursday morning on my way to History of Magic, the short headmistress had intercepted me in the hall and pulled me into her office.

_We sit in silence for a couple moments, her smile looking forced while she stares me down._

_“I’m sure you know why you’re here, Grace.” Her words seem calculated, as if she’s trying not to strike a nerve._

_I tap my finger to my chin, pondering, “Am I receiving an award?”_

_“You missed almost an entire day of class on Tuesday,” Fairy Godmother ignores my ridiculous answer as she continues, “and the nurse said that you didn’t report that you were feeling ill, so I’m asking you why you missed class?”_

_Knowing that I’m not going to be able to come up with a plausible enough lie that F. G. will buy, I sigh and slump down in my chair, “I wasn’t sick, I was just really stressed out, so I needed a break.”_

_“Dear,” The older woman wears that look of sympathy that I can’t seem to escape from, “I know the past year has been hard for you, but you can’t just skip class whenever you feel like it. This is the fourth time this year and we’re only in first month of the semester. I know that mental health is important, but you need to come to me, not just up and disappear.”_

_“I’m sorry, Fairy Godmother, it won’t happen again.” I tell her what I know she wants to hear, “When will my detention be?”_

_“Oh no, child, I’ve decided not to give you detention,” There’s an unspoken ‘but’ that causes me to lift my head, “I’ve found another way for you to serve your punishment.”_

_“That’s okay, I’ll take the detention.”_

_“Since you have a free block second period…”_

_Please don’t let it be dish duty._

_“…you will be placed into Remedial Goodness 101 for the next two weeks.”_

_Wait, what?_

_“_ Me _?” My eyes feel as if they’re about to pop out of my head, “In_ Remedial Goodness _? But, I know all my manners and the difference between right and wrong!”_

_“Be that as it may,” Fairy Godmother shuffles some papers on her large desk, “that is the punishment your teachers and I have decided on. Now, you better get to your first class and I’ll see you in second period. Please don’t be late.”_

_Holding down any retorts that might get me into any more trouble, I push my chair back, stand, and turn to exit the door, only stopping when F. G.’s voice rings out behind me._

_“Oh, and Grace?” I meet her warm smile, with a false one, “If you ever need to talk about it, I’m here. I’m not just your headmistress or friend’s mom.”_

_“Thank you, Fairy Godmother,” The words almost get stuck in my throat, and my hand grips the doorknob tightly, pushing my anger due to the subject down._

_Once the door closes behind me, I let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully that’s the last I’ll have to hear of that for a while. And now there’s only one thing on my mind as I walk down the hall towards History of Magic._

_Just wait until Aziz hears about this._

And that’s what led to me sitting with a chair pulled up at Evie and Mal’s table in a nearly empty classroom, Fairy Godmother standing on a platform in front of a large chalkboard. There’s a couple of the easiest multiple choice questions I’ve ever seen written on it and I think I’d rather be in detention than this class.

“If someone is mean to you, do you a, fight them b, throw a drink at them, or c, tell an adult?” She points to each question with a ruler and I lay my head on my arms with a groan. “Grace?”

Peeking over my arms, I can see that the all the occupants in the room have turned to me, waiting on my answer, “A.” I speak sincerely, returning the high five Jay offers, and ignoring the admonishing look F. G. shoots me.

“Young lady,” Fairy Godmother doesn’t look as shocked as any other teacher would, probably because she knows me a lot better. “please try that again.”

“Fine, it’s C.”

“Great job!” I’m given a dazzling smile and a little clap, even though this is something I learned in preschool.

The Headmistress continues on with the lesson, choosing to call on the other kids to answer some more incredibly easy questions. I feel bad that these guys have to go through an entire semester of this crap. Hopefully there isn’t a Remedial Goodness 201.

Mal actually does most of answering, while Evie works on two identical sheets of paper, reminding me of an eerily similar thing that happened to Lonnie. Jay looks like he’s barely keeping himself awake, and Carlos is fiddling with some walkie talkie like device.

I can tell that none of them really care for this class, only showing up because they’d get into trouble otherwise. I’m not sure their even interested in learning about how to be good, but from what I’ve seen, none of them have really been that bad. Of course it could all be an act, and I’m just too naive to see it; yet, I like to think I’m a good judge of character and the Isle kids are just misunderstood.

Although Mal’s spell book still sends chills down my spine, that could just be because it used to belong to Maleficent. And something about that hand mirror Evie carries around with her is off. She always seems to have it on hand, and she does check her reflection often, but sometimes she actually talks to it.

Fairy Godmother interrupts my thoughts with her animated applause at one of the others latest answers, earning them a smile and a, “Wonderful job!”

Class can’t end soon enough and I’m out the door the second the bell rings, not even waiting for the boys, who share History of Woodsmen and Pirates with me. There’s no telling how I’m going to survive the next two weeks of this crap. Each period blends together in a mix of notes and teachers droning on about the subject.

After chemistry, I stop by my room to drop off my bag, before heading to Ben’s room to take Dude, the campus mutt, for a walk like I’d promised him.

The future king’s door is unlocked, unsurprisingly.

We may live in a magical land where lollipops grow and the clouds are made of cotton candy—note the sarcasm—but, I wouldn’t put it past any of my fellow classmates to use that to our advantage, especially Aziz and myself.

“Hi, Dude!” I greet the little brown dog excitedly. “How’s it going, buddy?”

Dude barks, tail wagging quickly, jumping down from the arm chair he was laying on and rushing up to me. I feel bad for the usually free roaming dog. Since we weren’t sure how the son of Cruella would react to the mutt’s presence, Ben and I decided that we’d keep him in the prince’s room until the subject could be breached with Carlos.

It’s my turn to take him for a walk, so I clip a make shift leash to Dude and let him lead me out the door. We walk pretty much all over campus before we get close to the Tourney field, which should be empty since there isn’t a practice today.

“Okay, Dude,” I take off the lead, “I’m gonna let you run around for a little bit, but don’t tell Ben! It’ll be our little secret.” My response is a head tilt and something must catch his attention, because the scruffy mutt turns in the direction of the field and bolts. “…or not.”

A familiar white haired boy and the king-to-be come into my line of sight, “Dude no!”

Knowing that this could end very badly, I take off after the dog at a sprint, but there’s a reason I’m not on the track team. There’s absolutely no way I’m going to be able to catch up to the now barking animal—stupid half dwarf genes—, so I’m left with the next best option.

“Ben! Carlos!”

Neither boy reacts to my screams, probably because Ben has learned to tune them out and Carlos is too busy listening to him.

Suddenly, Carlos looks over in my direction, and I can see the moment he puts it together. His eyes move from me to Dude, eyes widening in horror as he runs in the opposite direction of the dog, who is barking as he gives chase, probably thinking this is all a game.

Ben looks up from his timer triumphantly, but it turns into a frown when he finally realizes what’s happening. He follows after the two into the woods and I trail behind him gasping for breath.

_Man, I seriously need to start working out._

Frowning in thought,

_Nah._

By the time I make it to where the boys and Dude are, I’m met with an extremely different sight than I’m expecting.

Carlos is holding Dude, and not screaming in terror; instead, he’s petting him with a soft smile on his face, responding to something Ben had said to him. “Let’s just say, we don’t get a lot of belly rubs on the Isle.”

My heart sinks at his words. Sometimes I wonder what King Adam was thinking when he banished the villains to the Isle. Sure, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but didn’t he know that they would eventually have kids, and he was dooming those kids to an unfair fate? Good thing his son is more thoughtful and is about to take his place.

“Hey, guys,” Hands on my knees, I gasp out a greeting between deep breaths, “Sorry, about that, Dude just got off the lease.”  
The white haired boy smiles but doesn’t pay me much attention, too busy fussing over his new friend. Ben, on the other hand, gives me a look that says he knows Dude didn’t ‘just get off’ the leash.

“Alright,” The Prince grabs my arm and starts to back away, “we’re just going to leave you two to get to know each other!”

“But Ben,” I whine, digging my heels in, “I just got here, and I’m tired.” His only response is a laugh as he tugs me after him, not without me complaining the entire way until he promises to buy me ice-cream, which quickly shuts me up.

_Cause who can say no to ice-cream?_

* * *

 

Its safe to say that the delicious frozen treat is not enough to keep me satisfied, and I find myself heading to the kitchen a little bit before curfew. I pass Lonnie on the way and we have a brief conversation about the newbies, who also happen to be in the kitchen. She fills me in on what they told her about life on the Isle with their parents.

“I just feel so terrible,” The daughter of Mulan’s eyes are watering, “it sounds like their parents didn’t love them.”

“I’m sure their parents loved them in their own way, Lonnie.” My words are a lie, coated in false sincerity to make the other girl feel better. I don’t know whether or not villains love their kids, but I’m not heartless enough to take away Lonnie’s hope.

“You think so?” She twirls a strand of her now long hair unsurely, as if my answer is law.

“Positive.”

Lonnie beams and gives me a hug, my face getting shoved into the other girl’s chest. Another downside of being the daughter of a dwarf, is getting suffocated whenever someone gives you a hug. Sometimes it’s nice, but when it lasts as long as this one, I think I’d rather breathe.

“You better hurry back to your room.” I mumble through her shirt, “We all know how Fairy Godmother is about curfew!”

I’m pushed back as Lonnie registers my words, “You’re right! I have to go! See you tomorrow, Grace!” The Chinese girl is quick as she darts down the hall and around the corner, barely giving me enough time to tell her ‘goodnight’.

_Whatever._

Shrugging my shoulders, I continue on my journey to the kitchen, my growling stomach urging me on.

Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay are surrounding a bowl of something on one of the counters, Dude sitting off to the side taking a snooze. He and Carlos must have really hit it off. The thing that catches my attention though, is Mal’s spell book laying open next to the girl.

“Do, you think it'll work?” Carlos asks the purple haired girl.

“Of course, it'll work, I’m not an idiot.” Mal takes the spoon she was using to mix the substance out of the bowl and onto a dish rag.

My eyes move from the mixture to the spell book and back wondering what they could possibly be making, but Jay, who looks up and notices me, coughs loudly and nudges Carlos. The other three turn to me, with varying degrees of nervous faces, Mal shutting her book before I can get any answer.

“Hey guys,” I speak slowly, letting my eyes roam over each of them, “I’m going to be honest here, I’m a little offended.”

“W-what?” Shockingly, it’s Carlo who finds his voice first.

“You’re obviously making some kind of magic food,” Nervous glances turn to panicked one, “and you didn’t even think to invite me! I love a good prank! Is it on Audrey? Because not only would I be offended I’d be super disappointed I wasn’t included.”

Yeah…,” I don’t miss the stern look Mal sends to each of her group as she responds, “it’s a prank, but we’re finished with it, so we’ll invite you next time.”

_Hmmm. Maybe it isn’t a prank. All I know, is that I’m not eating any of whatever that is._

“Sounds good,” I move to the freezer to search for my treasure, noticing them all still staring at me, “What?”

“Not to be rude,” Evie talks as Mal pours the—brownies?—into a glass pan, “but what are you doing here this late.”

“Making a pizza,” I deadpan, shaking the box incasing my prize. They all give me confused looks, “Please tell you people have had pizza before.” They continue to stare at me, “Okay, make that two pizzas.”

I ignore their protests as I grab a second box from the freeze, and preheat the oven, “I can’t let you go another day without trying it, so quit arguing.” Their voices die down when they realize that I’m not going to be swayed.

Mal puts her pan in one of the ovens and a couple minutes later the oven I preheated is ready, so I slide the two pizzas in and set the timer, not wanting to burn them. I’m not stupid, and I can tell that the Isle kids still don’t trust me, and I’m not quite sure what I do to change that; but, I’m willing to put the effort in to earn it.

“So, tell me about yourselves.” Sitting on the counter, I kick my legs back and forth.

Yet, again my question puts all four on guard, and its Jay who asks. “What do you want to know?”

“Anything,” I shrug, “I feel like we only talk about me, and I know I’m great and all, but I like to more about my friends than their names. Do you guys even have last names? Cause I feel like half the people in this school don’t have last names. You know I’ve never actually met two people with the same name here?” I notice their wide eyes and smile apologetically, “Sorry, I got carried away.”

“Well,” Jay recovers the quickest, “back on the Isle, all I liked to do is steal, and since that is a big no-no here,” He smiles cheekily, since I know he hasn’t kicked the habit, “I really like Tourney. Beating on the other guys is fun.”

“I like fashion,” Evie’s smile suddenly seems so much more genuine, “I designed all of our outfits.”

“That’s super cool, Evie.” I beam at the girl, “Maybe you’ll want to join the sewing club or something. They do shows every once in a while.” The club definitely makes the girl perk up, excitedly, “Also, you’ll have to make me a leather jacket sometime. They’re killer!”

Evie nods, “Oh, definitely. You’d look super good in leather!”

Mal takes the brownies out of the oven and puts them on the cooling rack once the oven goes off.

“Carlos?”

“Um,” The white haired boy runs his hand through Dude’s fur nervously, “I like fixing things, like electronics and stuff.”

“Could you fix Chad’s brain?” I ask him earnestly, causing everyone, besides Evie who likes him for some reason, to laugh. I turn to Mal, who’s the hardest of all the new kids to crack. She’s always on alert, and careful when she speaks, as if she calculates exactly what she wants to say.

“Mal likes to draw.” Carlos flinches when the girl glares as him, “What? You do! She’s really good.” Mal turns to stare at the wall, but I can see the light blush across her cheeks at the praise.

“I suck at art,” I admit to make her relax, “like one time I actually had to go to a parent teacher meeting because my teacher thought I was being terrible on purpose!”

A half smirk forms at the corner of her lips and I take the win, figuring it’s the best I’ll get for now. The oven going off puts any more of my embarrassing childhood on hold, and I pull out the pizzas, placing them on the counter carefully.

My mouth is watering as the smell wafts into my nose, one glance at the others, letting me know they feel the same. Giving it a couple minutes to cool, I use a pizza cutter to make nice even slice and deposit them on plates.

“Bon appetit!”

Not wanting to forget this momentous occasion, I pull out my cell phone to document it. Each of their faces is comical when they take the first bite. It makes me want to find a bunch of things just to make them try so I can witness their reactions.

“Mhmm, this is sooo good,” Jay groans, making me giggle.

“Now you guys know why I’m in the kitchen at 10 o'clock to make pizza!”

“Can we have this every night?” Carlos asks hopefully, his mouth full of the cheesy goodness.

Letting out a loud laugh, I shake my head, “Sorry, buddy but if you have it all the time it won’t be as good anymore.” His downcast expression urges me to continue, “And anyway, there’s plenty of other stuff for you to try. Just wait until you have cheesecake!”

His eyes light up at the idea of more food and he shoves another slice into his mouth.

“Well, this was fun, but I have a lot of homework to catch up on, so I’ll be on my way,” I pick up a couple slices and put them on a plate, giving the group a wave. “Goodnight, you guys, and good luck with whatever that it.” I gesture to the brownies.

I get a chorus of genuine goodnights, and my smile widens, making me almost skip down the hallway to my room.

_Grace:1 Ben:-6_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I'm looking for a beta, so if anyone is interested let me know!


	6. Not So Charming and Love Spells

Friday comes quickly, bringing the hype for the first Tourney game of the season along with it.

I think everyone is very excited to see just how good Jay is because of the rumors that have been spreading, me included. The only thing I'm not excited about is seeing the redheaded cheerleader that has captured my best friend's attention. It's not even like I have a reason to dislike the girl, yet, I can't ignore that feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever I see her.

My dislike could stem from how Aziz obsessively talks about how he can't wait for their date on Sunday, or just how incredibly nice she is without fault. She joined us for lunch yesterday, which Aziz insisted I come to since I've been sitting with the Isle kids everyday.

If the circumstances were any different, I'd probably want to be good friends with the girl, but they aren't so I'll settle for being polite.

Chemistry is my last class of the day and I have to endure Doug's longing stares at Evie, her longing stares at Chad, and his longing stares at himself in the reflection of his phone screen, for an entire hour.

I'm going to have to talk to the blue haired girl about Chad, because after much sleuthing—i.e. threatening a couple guys on the Tourney team with painful deaths—I found out that he's been suckering her into doing his homework, like he's done with multiple girls before.

Chad's also in for a talk that might include more punching than actual conversation. I haven't decided whether or not it's worth the rest of the semester in Remedial Goodness.

"Hey," I wave my hand in front of the princess's face, finally drawing her eyes away from Charming, "you're going to the game after class, right?"

"Yeah," Evie breathes, eyes roving back to Chad, "I wouldn't miss it."

"Great, I'm sure Jay and Carlos are super excited you're coming." I don't miss the glazed look in her eyes as she nods her head slowly.

"Right….Jay and Carlos."

_Heigh-ho, I want to slap the stupid out of this girl. She's obviously smart enough to do both hers and Chad's homework, but not enough to realize he's playing her._

The last bell rings, dismissing everyone to the game.

_Time to get in my good deed for the day._

"Hey, Blue," As soon as Evie stands up, I loop my arm though her elbow and pull her after me towards the door, "walk with me."

"Okay…," The innocent and confused look on her face almost causes me to forget about it, but the idea of that expression changing to a sad one urges me on.

"I don't think Chad is the right person for you." Wow, Grace. Could you have eased her into it at all?

Evie's eyebrows draw together as she registers my sentence, "What do you mean? He's a prince."

Digging the nails on my free hand into my palms, I try and stay calm, "That's not everything that matters though, Evie. I know you're doing his homework for him," I hold my hand up to stop her from interrupted, "and believe it or not, you're not the first one to do that. Chad is notorious for _charming_ girls into doing things for him." She opens her mouth, most likely to object, "I swear to god if you say it's because he's a prince!"

"But, he is…" She whispers, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, "My mother told me to find a prince in Auradon, because I'm a princess."

Anger at her mother rages through me, "Listen, Blue. Your mother may be right about you being a princess, but there are so many guys who are so much better than any prince. You deserve someone who isn't using you for your brain. You don't have to listen to everything your mother tells you." Not wanting to be completely serious, I nudge her lightly, "Anyway, if you haven't noticed, there are plenty of princes in Auradon."

What Evie does next surprises me. She throws her arms around me in an awkward hug, probably not used to giving them, and squeezes me tightly, "That's so sweet of you, Grace, and I respect your opinion, but I still like Chad."

Face warm due to embarrassment from being shoved into the taller girls shoulder, I mumble out a defeated response, "Just remember I told you so."

"I will, thank you!" The words come out awkwardly, but she means them.

"Blue, you're suffocating me."

"Oh," She lets go, allowing me to gulp precious air back into my lungs, "Sorry."

"Its cool," I wave off her apology, too proud to admit I enjoyed the act of affection, not wanting it to get back to Aziz because he'd tease me relentlessly. I can't be super badass and enjoy hugs, it just doesn't fit my cool factor. "Let's get to the field before they sell out of hot dogs!"

"Didn't you eat an entire pizza for lunch?"

"Yep," I pull the girl along behind me as I rush to the snack stand, "but there's always room for more!"

* * *

 

I find myself standing on Evie's left up in the bleachers an hour later, while Mal and Lonnie are on her other side. To be honest, the only reason I'm here is to cheer on Jay and Carlos. I think I've seen enough of Aziz's games to get over the Tourney hype by now; and, I may still be bitter about Coach refusing to let me join the team.

Probably because I completely disregarded the ball and instead focused on knocking the living daylights out of Chad.

_Good times._

Anyway, Jay and surprisingly, Carlos have pretty much carried the entire team today. Their names being the only one's really coming out of the announcers mouth. They seem to be jelling very well with the rest of the guys, even working together to score the last goal of the game, earning the Auradon Prep Fighting Knights the first win of the season.

"Excuse me, excuse me, can I have your attention, please?" Ben is taking the microphone from the announcer guy, an out of place dopey smile on his face, "There's something I'd like to say!"

All of the audience and the team abides the boy's request, eager to hear what he has to say, myself included.

"Give me an M!"

Everyone but me shouts _'M'!_

"Give me an A!"

_"A!"_

"Give me an L!"

_"L!"_

"What does that spell?"

_"Mal!"_

_What the hell?_

"I love you Mal, did I mention that?" I glance over Evie to look at the purple haired girl who looks utterly embarrassed.

"Give me a beat!"

" _Uno, dos, tres, quatro_!" Doug shouts, the band beginning to play around him.

I can barely hear Mal shout to Evie, "What was in that cookie?"

 _Oh my Fairy Godmother_ , it all clicks, causing me to miss enjoying the way Audrey storms off. _It was a love potion in the cookies. This is so much better than I thought it'd be. I mean, it is kinda rude to steal another girls boy, but Audrey and Ben were never going to last anyway._

And if I thought this moment couldn't get any better, I'm dead wrong. Ben actually starts singing his love for Mal, the whole Tourney team joining in as his backup. Slack-jawed, I lift my phone up to record this historical event. It never hurts to have blackmail on a future king.

Evie and Lonnie are jumping around to the music, while Mal stands still with a small smile on her face.

Benji tosses his jersey to the girl, before continuing to declare his love.

I know I should be extremely suspicious of the entire thing, but the only thing I can think of is, there's no way they didn't rehearse this.

Ben actually crowd surfs up to Mal, after being launched up into it as the song dies down behind him. All eyes are on them, Evie is gripping my arm excitedly, and I can feel her excitement for her friend.

"I love you Mal!" He pulls the Isle girl closer, "Did I mention that?"

Not one to miss a chance at the spotlight, Audrey appears with Chad by her side, "Chad's my boyfriend now," She grabs the mic from Ben, "and I'm going to the coronation with him. So I don't need your pity date."

I can feel Evie deflate beside me as the two share a kiss, her hand slipping off of my arm and finding a new spot on her hip. Trying to be a good friend, I loop my arm through hers and give her a supportive smile, but it's obvious she's still upset.

"Mal!" Ben shouts into the mic, stealing it back from the she-witch, "Will you go to the coronation with me?"

"Yes!" The crowd erupts into cheers.

Audrey takes Chad's hand and pulls him away from us, obviously pissed.

"You two deserve each other!" I find myself shouting after them, "Dipshits."

Jay pulls Ben away for victory pizza, sending a devilish smile my way that causes my stomach to flip.

"I feel sorry for Audrey," Mal speaks after the boys leave.

"You do?" The blue haired girl tilts her head to the side.

"Yeah," She smiles at Evie, "I feel like if she were talented like you, and she knew how to sew; and she knew beauty tips, she wouldn't need a prince to make her feel better about herself."

Mal actually surprises me with her supportive words. I know the girl isn't heartless, I just didn't think she would speak so freely in public. Ben was definitely right in his decision to bring them here.

"I guess I am kind of talented. Thanks, M." Evie admits with a wide smile.

Never one to not participate in a conversation, I stick my head between both girls, scaring them a little. "I for one, think you have more talent in your pinkie than half the people here have." Lonnie shoots me a look, "Not you of course, Lonnie. I know you can kick my ass!"

"Thanks, Grace. It means a lot." Evie puts her other arm around my shoulder and pulls me into her in an embrace.

The trophy is shoved into Jay's hands as the team lifts him into the air, declaring him the MVP of the match. A part of me feels bad for Carlos, who contributed his fair share, but there's always next time.

"Um, not that girls supporting each other isn't amazing and all," I shrug out of Evie's grip, stepping down a bleacher as the other girls watch me with smirks, "but there's a victory pizza with my name on it, so see you guys later!"

Their giggles follow me as I nearly trip down the bleachers in my excitement to get to the aforementioned food.

* * *

 

My mouth is watering as an entire pizza is placed in front of me.

"Thanks, Mike." I smile at the owner of Romeo's. It's the pizza shop I've been going to ever since I could remember, and coincidentally, where the Tourney team gets their victory pizza.

"You're welcome, Grace. Tell your dad I said hi. He hasn't been in, in a while." Mike says warmly, running a hand through his hair, and I can see the pity in the way he smiles sadly.

"I will," Gripping the corner of the table, I try to remain calm and change the subject. "I'm sure he'll be in soon for the next trivia night. You know he loves the looks on everone's faces when he destroys them."

Mike lets out a loud belly laugh, "I'll hold him to that." He retreats to the counter to take orders from the line that just started to form.

Looking down at the steaming pie, I pick up a piece of pizza and take a bite, moaning in delight; but, when I go in for the second one, the slice is plucked out of my hands before I can blink.

"Mhmm," Jay moans as he eats the rest of it, a smirk gracing his lips as his eyes meet mine, "this pizza is the best!"

"Seriously, dude?" I pick up another slice and angle it away from the boy incase he tries to take it. "The team has like ten pizzas over there and you have to come over here and take mine?"

"Well," The way his dimples stick out make my stomach flutter with nerves, "you aren't over there."

_Is he flirting with me?_

Flattered that he would ditch the team to sit with me, my cheeks are warm as I blush. Maybe I should give this feeling for Jay a chance. I glance over to the team table, seeing Aziz and Aria laughing, and my resolve hardens.

"Good point," My lips pull up in a smile, "I _am_ the most amazing person in Auradon, so it makes sense you would want to sit in my presence."

"You're definitely something else," He admits, picking up another slice, "I don't think there's anyone in Auradon quite as weird as you are."

Eyes narrowing at the jab, I punch him in the shoulder, "Hey! I'm not weird! I'm just an acquired taste." I cross my arms as he laughs at me. "You should be thankful I'm even letting you sit near me."

Jay throws his hand up, "Ok, ok. You're actually pretty cool, Princess."

"I'm _not_ a Princess," I glare playfully at him, "you should know that by how unproblematic I am, and the amount of detentions I have. I currently hold the record at Auradon in case you were wondering."

"Are you sure you weren't born on the Isle?" He asks with a laugh, "You seem way more tolerable than the most of the people here."

"I can confirm that I was not born on the island." I grin stupidly, shoving the last of the pizza into my mouth.

"How about we blow this joint and walk back to the school?" Jay suggests, throwing the correct amount of cash onto the table to cover the pizza and my soda. He stands from the table and gestures to the exit, "I could use the fresh air."

"Sure." I follow the boy out the door with a wave to Mike, who's grinning cheekily. Little does Jay know I never have to pay for a thing at Romeo's. I'll just let him think he's being a gentlemen. I guess he learned something in that chivalry class after all. "Also, should I even ask where you got the cash?"

"Probably not." The dimples are back, along with the tingling feeling in my tummy.

"Fairy Godmother wouldn't be pleased," I mock him in a high pitched voice, imitating the hand movements the headmistress often uses. The night air is chilly and I rub my arms to generate some heat.

"What she doesn't know, can't hurt her," Jay shrugs out of his new team jacket and holds it out to me, "it's not like you'll rat me out, right?"

"No." I admit, staring at the offered letterman and shaking my head, "That's your new jacket, I can't take that."

"Leather is more my thing," He wraps it around my shoulder carefully, stepping away when he finishes, "and anyway, I won't be able to enjoy beating you in a race back to school if you're frozen solid!" He takes off into a jog ahead of me.

"It's not even that c—hey, that's not fair!" I chase after the laughing boy, "You got a head start!"

"Life's not fair!"

Let's just say it was a tie.

It wasn't.


	7. Love and Plotting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace finds out about Ben and Mal's date and tries to get together another couple by inviting them both to dinner.

"Benjamin!"

The boy in question jumps out of bed when the door slams against the wall. Considering it's only 9 in the morning on a Saturday, I guess the normal person might still possibly be in bed. I would be in the same position had Jane not slammed our own door on when she left for cheerleading practice.

Although I'm digging Jane's newfound confidence, it's starting to feel more like a curse with the way it's changing her kind personality. She's mumbled a couple of pretty snarky comments in the past week that have me daydreaming about chopping off her long locks. Too bad I don't know where they keep the garden sheers at school.

"Grace, what are you doing here?" Ben asks, once he realizes that it's me.

"I'm definitely not here to judge your choice in sleepwear." I pointedly glance down at his pants that are littered with golden crowns, causing him to blush.

"Hey, G. Why aren't you still in bed?" Aziz, who's coincidentally Ben's roommate, glares at me for bothering him. "You can use all the beauty sleep you can get." He laughs at his own joke.

Showing him my favorite finger paired with a glare, I give him a once over.

"This coming from the boy wearing pants with magic lamps on them? What, did you and Benji buy them together or something?"

"Mean." Aziz throws the covers off himself and marches into their shared bathroom, door slamming shut behind him.

Smiling brightly, I turn back to who I actually came here for, moving forward and punching his shoulder.

" _Ow_! What was that for?"

"That's for not telling me you had a date with Mal, today!" He stops rubbing his shoulder at the mention of the purple haired girls name.

"Mal," He sighs dreamily, eyes glazing over.

_Good thing I haven't eaten yet; otherwise, I'd ruin this nice carpet. Damn that love spell is something strong._

"Benji," I snap my fingers in his face, bringing him back to reality.

"Sorry," The boy murmurs, that dopey smile still on his face, "I was going to tell you, I just forgot because I couldn't stop thinking about her. She's _amazing_ Grace. I never felt this way about Audrey."

Knowing that he's under the effects of a love potion and not telling him about it makes me feel extremely guilty. A rare emotion for me, so I immediately put finding a counter spell on top of my list of things to do.

Right under breakfast and above doing my homework.

"That's great and all, Benji," Pausing, I try to figure out a way to come across as supportive while still retaining my suspicion, "but, don't you think this is moving a bit too fast? I mean, it took you weeks to figure out how to ask Audrey on a date."

"That's because I didn't love her, but I love Mal so much!" Ben suddenly jumps out of his bed and charges into his closet. "Our date! I have to get ready! I'll talk to you later, Grace!" He reappears with a slightly crazed look on his face and pushes me out the door, not listening to my many _colorful_ complaints.

"Whatever!" I shout at the door before kicking the inanimate object, "I was going to get breakfast anyway!"

I'm not given a response, so I turn and walk off towards the cafeteria in search of giant plate of bacon.

* * *

 

Later that day, I find myself struck with a bad case of boredom.

Aziz is off on a date with Aria, I try not to linger too long on that, while Ben and Mal have just left for their first date, leaving me without the usual people I enjoy bothering. Jane has barely even slept in our room, let alone hung out with me, and Lonnie left with her mom for the day.

The buzzing of my phone breaks through my bored state, nearly vibrating off my bedside table.

I reach over and pick up the device, scanning the screen to read the text message.

_Dougie: Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to sit with me at dinner. I feel like we haven't talked in awhile._

_DropDeadGorgeous: You know, we sit at the same table in chem. Maybe if you weren't too busy staring at a certain blueberry, you'd actually talk to your dear old cousin._

_Dougie: When did you change your contact name in my phone, and it's not like you go out of your way to talk to me. You're usually trying to put the wrong thing in Chad's beaker to blow hime up._

I don't miss the way he completely dodges my Evie comment by quickly changing the subject, an awesome idea forming in my mind.

_DropDeadGorgeous: Touche._

_DropDeadGorgeous: Oh, and Lonnie's been giving me ninja lessons. She says maybe I'll be as good as her one day._

_Dougie: I doubt you'll be saving China anytime soon._

_DropDeadGorgeous: Your lack of faith in me, hurts. See ya in a little bit!_

_Dougie: Okay, see you then._

Slipping out from under the covers, I slide my phone into my back pocket and put on my hoodie that's hanging off one of the bed posts. I lock the door behind me and march purposely across the hall before knocking loudly on the door.

Seconds later, the door is opened and Evie looks confused as she scans me up and down.

"What are you doing here?" It's not said with disgust, just honest confusion.

I lean on my hand on the molding of the doorframe and smile, "I know that Mal's on her date with Ben, so I was wondering if you wanted to come to dinner with me? No sense in starving while waiting to hear about the big date."

"Really?" Her eyebrows pinch together in thought, "Even after I didn't listen to you about Chad?"

"Listen, Blue." I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her, "If I ignored everyone who didn't listen to my golden advice, I'd probably have to move, or stop talking, and we all know how much I love to talk."

Evie smiles and nods, "Okay. I'll go then."

"Aw," A teasing smile tugs at my lips, "it's cute that you think I was giving you a choice." I take hold of her arm and pull her over the threshold, shutting the door behind her, "Now, let's go before I starve to death!"

"What about the boys?" I barely hear her question through my thoughts of food.

I don't need Jay and Carlos messing this up for me, not that I don't like the boys, but if my plan is going to work, it'd be better if they weren't there.

"They know where the cafeteria is! C'mon, there are nachos today and I don't want to have to fight someone like last week!" I can credit Doug with the idea of changing the subject.

Thanks cuz.

We make small talk the rest of the way to the cafeteria, Evie gushing excitedly about Mal and Ben, while I nod along robotically. I'm almost positive that she knows about the love spell, since her and the others are such good friends, but I don't want to believe they're doing it for cruel reasons.

Thankfully, there are still Nachos left when we get there, me immediately grabbing two helping while Evie chooses a salad and unsurprisingly, an apple.

Doug is sitting at one of the far tables by himself, and I pull the blue haired girl along behind me.

"Doug! Hey!" Slamming my tray down on the table and grinning at his reaction, "Fancy meeting you here!"

Clearly not over his initial shock at the loud noise, Doug doesn't notice the girl of his dreams standing on my other side. "You're surprised to see me somewhere we planned to meet?" His eyebrows knit together in confusion, probably for concerned for my sanity.

"Oh, Dougie!" I slap his shoulder harshly, keeping my tone playful as to not alert Evie of my annoyance, "You're so funny. Isn't he hilarious, Evie?"

The girl in question giggles at the look of complete shock that crosses the boys face, "E-Evie?" He stutters out pitifully.

"Yeah, I thought I'd bring her along since Mal is with Ben and all." He completely misses the wink I send him, still too petrified to look away from the girl.

"Oh," Evie breathes out next to me, "was this supposed to be just you two? Am I interrupting your family time?"

She takes a step back only for me to pull her back and force her into the chair next to Doug, a calculated move on my part. A couple seconds later has me regretting ever putting this plan into place when neither one of them says anything.

Giving Doug a pointed look, I gesture to Evie's, who's sending a glare Chad's way, outfit. Even though he's still obviously flustered, he gets my hint and finds his voice.

"H-hey," His cheeks tint pink when her brown eyes land on him, "I like your outfit, did you make it yourself?"

The girl's head immediately perks up at my cousins question—reiterating the fact that I'm a genius—and a huge smile forms across her lips. I don't think I've ever seen Doug as nervous as right now, with Evie's full attention on him.

"Yes, I did make this. I use to make all our outfits back on the Isle." Her eyes glaze over for a moment in what must be one of the rare positive memories she has of the Isle of the Lost. "I just adore fashion, and there's so many types of fabrics and colors in Auradon!"

"Just wait until you see the craft stores in town," I inform her while Doug tries to make words, "I bet Doug would love to take you sometime!"

Evie's eyes light up in excitement, much like myself around any type of food, turning to my cousin to await his answer eagerly, "Would you?"

He gulps, nodding his head rapidly and pulling at the collar of his shirt, "Of course, w-whenever you want."

"Oh, thank you, Doug!" She claps her hands together, beaming, "That's very kind of you."

"You're welcome," His voice cracks, causing me to choke on my nachos from laughter.

Two more trays are placed on the table, and a hand pats me on the back, dislodging the food from my throat. Once I see the person the appendage is attached to, the urge to punch them dissipates into a warm feeling in my stomach.

"I don't just save anyone's life, you know." Jay smirks as he sits down beside me, Carlos doing the same on his other side, offering the group a small smile and wave.

"My hero," I tease, rolling my eyes while trying to play it off.

The table falls into relatively easy conversations ranging from classes, to tourney. I've noticed that With the added company, Doug seems much more at ease now that Evie's attention isn't fully on him, something we'll definitely have to work on.

The three kids from the Isle seem a little more open without Mal, who seems to be the leader, around. It makes me curious to see what the purple haired girl is like when she isn't playing the tough but still caring leader. I've noticed that although she tries to portray this strong front to everyone she truly cares for her friends and possibly Ben.

Carlos is laughing at something Jay said, while Evie is smiling fondly at both of them. It makes me wish it could always be like this for the four transfer kids.

Though, it doesn't last.

Chad, who's been an even bigger pain in the ass since he and Audrey started 'dating' decides to pay us a very unwanted visit.

"Hey, guys." He runs a hand through his stupid hair, unperturbed by the glares from the three Isle kids, my cousin and I, "Are you excited for family day?" He tilts his head with a dumb smirk, "Oh wait, your family can't come."

Nobody says anything, either because they're in shock like me, or they've just realized that Cinderella's son is a total douche.

Jay has his hands clenched around his tray, nearly enough to snap it in half. Next to him, Carlos is giving Chad a dirty look, but I can see the fear of his mother coming here in his eyes. Evie has one finger twirling a piece of hair, her lips pursed in what I think is anger. Doug, my dopey cousin, is just sitting there with his jaw hanging open, like he's never met Chad before.

"Don't say anything," I recover first, turning to the rest of the table, "it'll make him stay longer."

Apparently, it was the wrong move to even warn them at all, because it focused his attention on me.

"I know you just can't _wait_ , Grace." His smile turns victorious as he breathes his next words, "Too bad you won't be able to see your mom."

The jab isn't even clever, but something in me snaps.

_One._

My chair squeaks as I push it back, standing up quickly. If I was looking, I'd see three looks of confusion and concern, and one of anger and understanding.

_Two._

I clench my fists as my eyes meet Chad's, his blues eyes wide with fear, probably realizing his own mistake.

_Three._

The cafeteria is almost quiet as people turn to watch, murmuring to their friends while their eyes stay on us.

_Four._

I take a purposeful step forward.

_Five._

Somewhere in back of my mind, I register Evie and Doug calling my name, but I can only focus on the boy in front of me.

_Six._

Another step.

_Seven._

Two more steps.

_Eight._

I stop less than a foot away from him, unblinking glare searing into his wide blue eyes. His hands go up, most likely to shield his face like the wuss he is.

_Nine._

I take a deep breath, clenching my hands tighter in anticipation.

_Ten._

My hands fall to my side loosely, and I take a step to the side. Chad's own hands lower in confusion and I bump his shoulder as I push past him towards the doors, ignoring the attention from the entire room.

I don't even wave to Ben and Mal, who I pass on my march back to my dorm, leaving them with their hands awkwardly in the air as they watch me go.

My hands are shaking so badly I can't get the key in the door.

_Bam!_

"Shit!" I cry as my hand makes contact with the wall, wishing it was Chad's face. It's definitely going to be bruised in the morning. I shake it in attempt to lessen the pain, before finally lodging the key into place and opening my door.

I don't even take the time to slip off my shoes; instead, I launch myself onto my bed and clutch my pillow to my chest, letting the wave of emotions wash over me, encompassing me in their grip until I manage to cry myself to sleep.


	8. Truth Comes Out

Days pass after Saturday in the cafeteria; my mood not improving in the slightest as family day approaches, Chad’s words echoing in my mind, along with the looks on Doug and the three Isle kids’ faces.

Pity and Concern.

Classes remain as boring as ever, besides the moment when Chump Charming accuses Evie of cheating with her hand mirror, which Mr. Delay confiscates. As it turns out, the mirror is a magical item that can answer any of the girls questions. The blue haired girl actually gets a good score on her test, I later find out from Doug, once again making our teacher look like an idiot.

_Remedial Goodness_ goes as well as expected, me only participating as much as absolutely necessary. I had moved my seat from next to Mal and Evie, to an empty table behind them, to their confusion.

Besides leaving my room for class—which is only to not draw attention from Fairy Godmother—I haven’t left the place I’ve made into a sanctuary. Ben and Aziz, having been filled in by my cousin, alternate dropping off meals, most which end up in the trash. They try and stay to chat about random things, but I kick them out minutes later.

Jane’s presence is scarce, the girl only in our room to sleep, and even though she’s been getting a big head lately, I miss the normally sweet shy girl.

Today is repeat of the days before, my mood sour and my heart still hurting, very similar to last year minus the reckless behavior.

First period goes by with no issues. Aziz tries to crack jokes in hopes of getting me to smile, but, his attempts only succeed in the hold on my self control becoming closer to snapping.

It’s the second class of the day that’s really interesting and somewhat upsetting.

I’m spread out at my table in Remedial Goodness while F. G. is up at the chalkboard waving her pointer stick around, as usual. Halfway through the class, though, she disappears into her office for a few moments.

The other four are whispering amongst themselves, while I just twirl my pencil around, staring at the blank piece of paper in front of me.

Fairy Godmother returns, lugging a TV on a rolling cart behind her, an excited smile on her face.

“Children, excuse me.” She walks forward after placing the cart in the front of the room, “As you know, this Sunday is Family Day here at Auradon Prep,” My fingers tighten around my pencil, breaking it, “and because your parents can’t be here due to, uh, distance,” She smiles wider, “we’ve arranged a special treat.”

With that she walks backwards and turns on the TV.

Four extremely odd looking people appear on the screen. I immediately recognize Maleficent due to the famous horns atop of her head, making me come to the realization that these must be the parents of my new friends; meaning the TV must be hooked up to a webcam that’s on the Isle.

It’s actually really nice of Fairy Godmother to do this for them.

“I don’t see anything, nor do I hear.” Maleficent leans closer to the screen, blocking most of the others from view.

“Kids!” F.G. beckons them with her hand, “Come here!”

Knowing she's not talking to me, I rest my head on my arms, sighing and trying to be happy for my friends.

Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos cautiously stand and approach the front of the room, standing behind the short woman while the villains bicker. The picture shakes for a moment before steadying and who I’m positive is the Evil Queen perks up.

“Evie! Its mommy!” Evie waves at her mother, who actually seems excited to see her, “Look how beautiful. You know what they say, the poison apple doesn't fall far from the tree.”

_Now I know why Blue is so focused on her looks,_ I can’t help but think, _her mom has probably drilled into her head that beauty is the most important thing. She is known for the whole ‘fairest of them all’ thing._

I almost miss Cruella calling Fairy Godmother an old bat, and have to press a hand to my mouth to stifle a giggle; the first time I’ve done so in days.

Mal introduces F. G. and the villains start to make fun of her, the pumpkin carriage, and why she couldn’t have let Cinderella have a later deadline than midnight. In my opinion, the jabs are worse than Audrey could have come up with, but they affect the woman all the same.

She leaves the camera’s view extremely flustered and trying to reassure herself.

“Mal!” Maleficent calls, “I m-m-missed you!” I don’t miss the way the Evil Queen has to slap the woman on the back for her to get the words out.

“You children are never far from our thoughts!” The only man, Jafar, cuts in.

Their words all seem fake and rehearsed, the glare Maleficence shoots Jay’s father only further confirming my suspicion.

“How long must mommy wait to see you?”

Mal shifts somewhat uncomfortably, “There’s a big coronation coming up, I think probably sometime after…that.”

“When?”  
  
“Friday!” Her tone has a false pleasant edge to it, “Ten, AM.”

“You sure I can’t see you before then?” Each adult’s face is contorted into an expression that’s concerned mixed with constipation, “I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t get my hands on that magic wa-,” Panicked expression replace the previous ones as the villains wave their hands, “-you, you little nugget that I love so much!”

The four kids stiffen and Mal lets out a nervous chuckle, “Yes mother, I completely understand.”

I miss Cruella talking to Carlos because I’m too busy trying to figure out what Maleficent was about to say before she corrected herself. _She definitely wasn’t saying how much she wanted to see Mal. It sounded as if she had said magic, but there isn't any magic on the Isle, right? So how could she get her hands on any?_

Looking up in time to see the parents of my friends arguing childishly and Jay turning the monitor off, my heart clenches in my chest. Even if they aren’t the greatest people, at least Evie and Mal still have their mothers, good or bad.

_Scrrrreeechh!_

Five heads turn towards me simultaneously, and I barely have time to turn and hide the dark look on my face, before stalking out of the classroom; thankful for the fact that class is technically over and a detention won’t become the cherry on top of my terrible week.

My mood continues in a steady stream of dark and moody for the rest of the school day, relief washing over me as soon as the door closes behind me, blocking out the rest of the world.

“Hey,” Jane’s voice startles me, and considering she hasn’t been around as much lately, it’s completely justified.

“Oh, hey Jane,” I lean on one of her bedposts. “What’s up?”

“I was in the mail room to get my, you know, mail and I picked up yours, too.” The girl points over at my desk, which now has an envelope and a magazine on it.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She pops up from her bed and grabs her handbag, moving to the door, “I’m going to meet the girls for dinner. See you later?”

The girls are Aubrey and the rest of the members of the cheerleading team, otherwise known as Jane’s new besties.

“Okay, see you.” My response falls on deaf ears because the doors already closing behind her.

Letting out a sigh, I cross the room to my desk and pick up the magazine.

The newest face of _Princess Weekly_ stares back at me, causing me to scoff. Aziz must’ve given them my address because he knows I’ve mentioned on multiple occasions that I think the magazine is utterly stupid.

I toss it to the side with a chuckle and pick up the single white envelop that has a couple splotches of dirt on it, immediately recognizing my fathers handwriting. Without pause, I tear open the paper and unfold the letter.

_Gracie,_

_Hey baby girl. I know I haven’t called in a while but you know how it is in the middle of the forest, really bad service and all that. I finally got Uncle Dopey to go into town with Uncle Happy to drop off this letter at the post office._

_I hope everything is going well at school, I know how hard it’s been this past year, but I know you’re capable of overcoming everything and anything that comes your way._

_I can’t wait to see you at Family Day along with the rest of your cousins and family members. I’m counting down the days!_

_Love you,_   
_Daddy_

Several tear drops litter the piece of paper while I read, a small smile forming on my lips at my father’s words. He may not have written a lot, but he is named Grumpy after all. He doesn’t talk a lot when he doesn’t have to, but it means a lot that he sent a letter before he got here.

He still lives in the same house as when Snow White first met them, and the other dwarves had built more houses a little ways away, turning that area of the forest into a little village made up of my entire family.

Sitting down and pulling out a piece of paper, I write him a quick note back telling him all about the new kids at school and Aziz, decidedly leaving out the part where I’ve been in a bit of a low. I seal the letter in one of my many envelopes and decide to take it to the post office and send it out right away.

____________________________________________________________________________

Stepping out of the post office building on the far end of campus, I head back on the path to the dorms, not wanting to run into anyone who might dampen the lighter mood the letter has given me.

A few yards from the dorm building, something shiny sitting in the grass near a tree catches my eye.

Upon closer inspection, it’s a piece of black and red leather fabric and I realize that it’s the leather vest Evie made for Doug. It must have come off and Carlos didn’t realize it; otherwise, the boy would’ve been frantically searching for it.

I pick it up, open the front doors to the building, and head up the stairs to the boy’s room, instead of to the hall on the right. Once I trek up the four flights of stairs, and down the hall to the slightly open door, I take a moment to catch my breath.  
  
Voices drift through the crack in the door, more than just the two occupants.

“Oh, by the way, Ben,” A feminine voice, Evie’s, breaks through the chatter, “What’s going on with Grace? She’s been really quiet and kinda down since the whole Chad thing last weekend.”

Leaning closer to the wooden door, I press my hand against it.

“Yeah,” Mal chimes in, “she’s been around a lot less lately too and as annoying as she is, I’ve finally gotten used to her presence and it’s a little rude that she’s dipping out.”

Although it seems like an insult, I know it’s actually a thinly veiled compliment, a rare thing from the purple haired girl to someone outside of her little crew; but, I’m more focused on hearing the future kings response, awaiting his words with bated breath.

“Um,” Ben’s tone is higher pitched than usual, signaling that he’s nervous, probably because his girlfriend is asking something of him he’s not supposed to share. “You’re right, Grace has been a little…not herself lately, but it’s not really my business to tell.”

“C’mon dude, it can’t be that bad.” Jay speaks up, “Just tell us.”

_I swear to god Benji if you break._

“I really can’t.”

“Please, Ben?” It’s said with extreme sweetness and love potion or not the boy would probably crack at this point anyway so he answers Mal.

_Was I really expecting anything different?_

“Well,” He gets a little quieter and I have to basically plaster myself against the door to hear him. “Last year was really hard for her.” Ben pauses for a deep breath, “Her mom got really sick and was in the hospital for a long while,” I bite my lip to hold back my tears as images of needles and loud machines flash through my mind, “and she passed away in December. It was really hard for Grace, I mean it would be for anyone, but she was angry for months and would skip class and disregard her teachers, holing herself up in her room for days at a time.”

“That’s awful,” Blue sounds truly sorry, and it makes my fists clench because the last thing I want is pity.

“It was,” Ben is distant as he’s probably remembering just how bad I was, “but I think she got better over the summer, because when she came back, she was just how she’d been before it happened, sarcasm and all.”

“Can I ask how her mom died?” Carlos’ is delicate as always with his words, voice soft.  
  
Ben doesn’t answer for a moment and I decide to make my entrance, knowing he was right and it wasn’t his story to tell. These four have become my friends and I want them to know about me and my family, from me and not someone else. I nudge the door open with my foot and of course it creaks and alerts them all to my presence, five pairs of shocked eyes on me.

My lips are curved into a small, watery smile as they all stutter for a moment, “You’d think with all the magic and rainbows in Auradon, they'd be able to cure cancer.” I choke back the brigade of tears, having not talked about it in months, “but they can’t and they couldn’t save her.”

“Grace,” Jay is looking at me with sad eyes, shaking his head, “it’s okay, you don’t have to.”

“I want to,” I look at each of them and then Ben, who looks sort of…proud, “you guys are my friends and I want you to know.”

I move over the bed where Carlos and Evie are and sit down slightly angled away from the blue haired girl, afraid I’ll collapse because my knees trembling so badly.

“By the time they diagnosed it, she had already been in stage four breast cancer.” Tears drip onto my pants as I trace circles on them, not being able to meet anyone’s eyes. “They tried treating her with chemo, but by then it had already spread to other parts of her body, including her brain.” I sniff and wipe an arm across my face, “She spent the last couple months of her life in the hospital hooked up to a bunch of different machines to help keep her alive.”

It’s the end the story, _her story_ , and I don’t have anything else to say, clutching a handful of the comforter between my fingers tightly.

There’s a warm touch on my shoulder and looking to the left I can see that Evie has scooted closer and is resting her hand on my shoulder and squeezing lightly. Her brown eyes are filled with sadness and something unexpected.

Understanding?

Glancing around at the other Isle kids, I can see the same expressions littered across each of their faces. Now that I’m thinking about it, I only remember seeing one of each of their parents and they’ve never spoken about the other ones. Maybe they know exactly how I feel, or at least, have an idea.

“I’m really sorry about your mom, Grace.” Evie says softly and Mal echoes with a, “Me too.”

Jay and Carlos both nod their heads simultaneously.

“Thanks.” I breathe in deeply, then looking up at Ben who has a nervous look on his face, I smile, “I’m not mad at you, Benji, so you can relax, or at least try to breathe.”

Ben’s tense shoulders slump and he lets out a sigh, “Okay, Grace.”

“Alright!” Everyone jumps when my hands smack together, “Not that this little impromptu intervention wasn’t super fun, but I actually came here for a reason!” I hold out Dude’s jacket to Carlos, who brightens and takes it from me.

“I was looking all over for this! Thank you!”

“I found it out front by one of the trees,” I gesture out through the window, “and I believe Blue still owes me a super cool leather jacket!”

“Oooh!” Evie lights up and jumps from the mattress, scurrying over to the door, “I’ll go grab my measuring strip and I’ll be right back! Don’t move!”

Mal laughs, turning to me with a smirk, “You really don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. Evie goes a little crazy when fashion is involved.”

“She’s really not kidding,” Jay adds, “she once made me stand still for two hours making an outfit for me. Although,” He wiggles his eyebrows, “I wouldn’t mind staring at you for two hours.”

A pillow smacks him in the face, “I’m sorry, I thought I saw a bug on your face. Oh wait, it’s just your face!”

The room erupts into loud, joyful laughter and it’s the first time in days I’ve truly felt relaxed.  
  
I hope it lasts.   
___________________________________________________________  
  
**I know this story isn't even finished yet but I'm already thinking about a sequel. Obviously it would be based around the second film. Let me know what you think!**


	9. Family Day Part 1

My sort of intervention with Ben and the'VKs'—as some of the Auradon kids have unceremoniously dubbed them— had been successful in lifting my mood and making the rest of the days leading up to Family day more of a breeze. The thought at seeing my father is making me almost jump for joy, causing some of my peers to eye me nervously when I bounce my leg up and down uncontrollably at my desk.

"Girl," My best friend is grinning as he turns to me, "you need to calm the hell down. I like this attitude a lot better than the Debby Downer shit you had going on last week, but you're starting to freak people out. " He gestures behind him with a thumb, "I mean look at Jordan, she's terrified."

I glance back at the Genie's daughter, who indeed looks incredibly nervous, waggle my fingers at her and turn back to Aziz.

"I don't know what you're taking about."

"Seriously?" He nearly chokes on his astonishment, "You can't just change moods like Pascal changes colors and expect everyone to act like its normal."

"Isn't it though?" I ask, watching as he jots down some notes from the board, "In preschool I was Chad's best friend for about a week before he told me his favorite color was his eye color and I shoved sand down his pants." We laugh at the memory, "Nothing I do should surprise people anymore."

"Good point."

"Anyway, how are you and Aria doing?" The raging jealousy I'd initially felt when he announced his feelings for her had died down to a dull throb that I'm trying to ignore.

Aziz shrugs, scribbling down more notes in his sloppy handwriting, "I cut it off. She's nice and all, but we don't have anything in common, really. All she talks about is the ocean and then she tried to get me to join the Ocean Cleanup Crew, or something." He laughs, shaking his head, "Plus, she doesn't like pranks."

"What?" I gasp dramatically, hand hovering in front of my mouth in fake horror, "Who doesn't like pranks?"

"It's ok, there's a bunch more girls at school that haven't had the 'Aziz Experience,'" The boy shoots me a flirty wink, "and they probably love pranks."

"Oh my godmother," He whines when I punch him in the shoulder, "could you be any more of a boy?"

The son of Aladdin glances down at his lap with a smirk, "Nope. I think I'm as much of a boy as I can be."

"Whatever," I roll my eyes in exasperation, "good luck with that."

The bell rings, signaling the end of 7th period and everyone leaves in a rush besides me and my best friend.

Aziz slings his bag over his shoulder and leans across the desk, "Anyway," I notice how he looks a little uncomfortable, "since I'm not dating Aria anymore, I was wondering if you'd want to, you know, go to the 'boronation' with me?"

Nearly choking on my gum, I can actually feel my heart about to explode, "Are you kidding?"

"No, I'm serious." Now that I'm paying closer attention, I can see that he's a little nervous; by the way he's looking at his feet and the small amount of sweat above his brow. "I was thinking since you have to be in the balcony and I don't have a date and stand on the floor, you should be my date so you can have a better view."

I have to swallow the immediate 'yes!' that wants to jump from my throat in favor of playing it more cool, "Well, I don't know. I told the newbies that I'd be standing in the balcony with them."

"C'mon G!" Aziz grabs one of my hands, the heat rushing to my face quickly in response, "You've been spending all your time with them and we've barely so much as played a prank in weeks." His eyes widen comically, "Please?"

"Hey! I'm in charge of making them feel welcome and I like to think I'm doing an amazing job, for once." I grin when he holds his hands up in front of him. "But, I will go to the coronation with you just because you asked so nicely."

_Yeah_ , a voice in my head whispers, _like that's the only reason you said yes._

"Sweet!" He pumps his fist in the air, "You won't regret it. I better get to class." Stopping at the door to send me a charming smile, "Later!"

"Yeah," I sigh, "later."

Holy shit.

_Holy shit._

I'm going to the coronation with Aziz.

My best friend.

The guy I've known since diapers.

The boy who currently makes me feel incredibly weird things is my date.

_Date_.

_Riiiiiiiinnnng._

"Shit!" All thoughts of Aziz and the coronation are forgotten as I jump out of my seat at the warning bell, "I can't be late to Chemistry again or Mr. Delay will kill me!"

* * *

 

My bag clunks down on the lab table a couple seconds before the bell signaling the start of last period rings, a triumphant smile on my face, but Mr. Delay isn't even in the classroom yet.

Speaking of, apparently I missed the altercation between the teacher and Evie last week, when he accused her of cheating with her mirror due to Chad narcing to him. I also missed the look on his face when the blue haired girl didn't fail as he expected, but actually got a better grade than me.

I didn't miss the look on Doug's face when he was telling me all about how she thanked him later that day.

"Grace," The boy in question squints as he studies me from across the table, "why is your face so red and why were you running. You don''t run."

Sinking further in my seat and placing my head in my hands, "I'm on my period."

He buys the lie as most boys do, trying to stutter out a response but utterly failing.

"I thought you had it two weeks ago." Evie, helpful as ever, points out from her spot next to my cousin.

Of course I'd mentioned it to her and Mal when I'd been shoving food in my face at lunch one day. I've really got to work on that whole oversharing thing I do.

"Okay, you got me."

"So, why the tomato face?" Blue asks, head tilted to one side.

"Oh, you know," My voice takes on a slightly higher pitch, "my best friend just basically begged me to go to the coronation with him," Something flickers in Evie's eyes at the mention of the big event and I file it in my 'suspicious stuff the weird new kids do' file in the back of my brain. "I'm just suffering from second hand embarrassment."

The wide-eyed excited look that forms on Evie's face as she puts it together and she actually squeals.

Like, a noise that Audrey would make if she saw a mouse.

"Oh em gee!" She claps her hands, quieting down slightly when Mr. Delay, who finally graced us with his presence, walks in. "I knew you liked him! This is so exciting! Why aren't you more excited?"

"Possibly because he asked me because he just broke up with Aria." I whisper across the table, keeping one eye on our teacher "Did he ask any other girls before you?" She asks with a knowing smirk.

"..,not that I know of."

"Then that means he likes you!" Cue another girlish squeal.

"Something you'd like to share with the class, Ms. Evie?"

"No, sir." Blue answers the teacher with the flick of her hair.

Mr. Delay nods and turns back to his writing, while Evie and Doug stare at me expectantly.

"Fine," Sighing deeply, "maybe he likes me, and maybe I like him, but this isn't a date, so don't be getting any ideas in that pretty blue head of yours."

Doug actually has the audacity to laugh, "Yeah, good luck with that."

"This is amazing!" Evie ignores us and starts writing down notes in her notebook, "Do you have a dress picked out for the coronation? Wait, don't answer that! I'm going to make you one! You'll have to come over after class, so I can get your measurements and start sewing!" Barely pausing long enough to take a breath, "I know I got them for the leather jacket, but I just want to make sure everything is right."

"She's going to kill me," I give Doug a pleading look, "this girl is going to kill me and then dress my corpse in pretty, pretty clothes."

"I'm sorry," He shrugs, "but no one can help you now."

"Grace!" Mr. Delay shouts, "Do I have to send you to the office?"

"What?" Jaw dropped, I point at both Evie and Doug simultaneously, " _What?_ "

For all the complaining I do for the entirety of the rest of the period, I'm actually grateful for the Isle girl offering to make my outfit; otherwise, I'd have to go to the mall last minute like I always do for stuff like this. Its pretty cool of the girl to offer so last minute.

I am grateful, until the end of class when the girl drags me away to her dorm room, still going on about colors, fabrics and other terms I don't understand.

At least there's a leather jacket to look forward to.

What can I say?

I really want a leather jacket.

The only good thing about it being a Thursday, is that tomorrow is Family Day and I get to see my dad and there's no class.

* * *

 

Jane wakes me up bright and early the next morning, and it takes me a couple moments of pissed off conversation to realize the reason for the early wake up call.

"I swear to your mother, Jane," I rub the sleepiness out of my eyes, "if you woke me up just to talk about your hair or something like that, I will get in a boat and drop you off on an island in the middle of the ocean."

"What are you talking about?" My roommate giggles, opening the curtains and blinding me momentarily with the bright sunlight.

"I'm talking about me being up at seven in the morning." I whine, covering my face with one of my pillows. "I don't even get up for class this early!"

My soft shield is ripped from my grip and thrown across the room, "Its Family Day, silly, and you promised to sing in the a cappella performance. You went to the rehearsals, remember?"

"I went to like one," Holding up a finger to make my point, "and I thought that they would kick me out. I only did it because I owed Ben for scaring Carlos with Dude and he needed an extra voice." I pause in thought. "Wait, I still have to do that? I barely know the song!"

Jane ignores me in favor of going through her closet for an outfit, coming out with a blue, ruffled shouldered polka dot dress that looks almost exactly like the any of the other ones that she owns.

Shifting so that my feet hover over the ground, I pat my bed sadly one last time before hopping onto the cool wood and walking over to my own closet. I pick one of the only dresses that I own, a burgundy lace dress that Lonnie had forced me to buy during one of the many shopping trips I'd taken with her and Jane.

I lace up my black combat boots and slip on a golden necklace with a pickaxe and shovel pendant that my dad had made from one of the first pieces of gold that he mined, having apparently stolen it from Doc, as he so claims.

"Let's go, let's go!" The minute I'm fully dressed and have run a brush through my brown hair, Jane is pulling me through the door and towards the quad, where I'll be singing in front of everyone and basically ruining my street cred.

On the way, I manage to persuade Jane to stop for five minutes in order to get breakfast, and yanked away exactly five minutes later with half a bagel sticking out of my mouth.

The gardens are packed with students and families alike, causing me and my friend to weave around groups of people. Fairy Godmother pulls her daughter away, leaving me alone in the crowd.

"Grace!" Aziz appears out of nowhere, followed closely by a familiar man and woman.

"Hey 'Ziz," I hug my best friend before turning to his parents and curtseying, "your Majesties."

Aladdin kisses his biceps and smirks, "Hello, peasant."

"Aladdin!" Jasmine hits her husband before smiling at me, "Grace, how many times do we have to tell you to call us by our names?"

"You don't. I just like the looks on people's faces when Aladdin calls me a peasant." Aziz and I laugh, "And your face is pretty funny, too."

Jasmine sighs with a fond smile on her face, "What am I going to do with you three?"

"Tell us how great we are." Aziz's father is promptly slapped again and puts his hands up to defend himself, "Ok, ok, I give!"

Aziz is busy telling his mom and dad about all the latest pranks we'e gotten up to this year, myself nodding along excitedly, when there's a brief tap on my shoulder.

I turn to face a familiar bearded face and a smile forms on my lips.

"Daddy!"

I fling myself onto my father and he wraps his arms around me, staggering at the force I'd launched myself with. I rest my head on his shoulder, breathing in the scent of wood and smoke, reminding me so much of home.

"Hey, Gracie," His greying beard tickles my neck and I pull back to look at him, "I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too." I release him, taking a step back to let him breathe. "I didn't know if you were going to come or not until I got your letter."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world!" Dad grins, different from his usual smirky smile and throws his arm over my shoulder. "How are you?"

Letting out a fake laugh, "I'm great. You know me, best friends with everyone and all."

"Grace, I'm serious."

"It's been hard, coming back this year and all." I sigh, knowing I can't lie to my dad, "I tried pretending that I was the same girl as before mom, you know, and I ended up falling apart a couple weeks ago, but Ben and a couple friends you haven't met really helped me out."

"New kids?" Dad looks interested but wary, "These wouldn't happen to be four transfers from the Isle of the Lost, would they?"

There's no way to really get out of this one, so I tell him the truth. "That would be correct, but they aren't bad! Well, no worse than Aziz and I, but I can tell they aren't inherently evil. I pretty much forced them to become friends with me."

"And you're aware one of them is the daughter of the Evil Queen?"

I knew this would be coming once we breached the topic, "What? Nooo, I though she was the daughter of a gumdrop fairy!" Dad quirks an eyebrow, expression unwavering, "Of course I know who her mother is, Dad, but she's so much more than that. They all are. You'd honestly love them if you met them. You and Mal share very similar facial expressions."

Dad stares at me seriously, before his expression softens and he nods, "I knew we did something right with you. I trust you, Gracie. If you say they're alright, then they must be alright."

"Good," I spot the rest of my huge family, along with my cousin, "because Doug may or may not be dating the EQ's daughter. Bye!" He's left alone to process my words as I greet my family members.

"Doug!" He shouts, causing my cousin to wince, "Did you tell anyone else about your girlfriend?"

Doug glares at me, knowing he's in for a boatload of teasing and possibly another animated version of 'The Talk'.

"Sorry, guys, but Dougie and I have to go sing." I can only prolong the torture, leading my cousin away to where the rest of the group agreed to meet.

"Just wait till I tell them about you and Aziz." He whispers in my ear as we get into formation, me standing next to Lonnie, with him directly behind me.

My jaw drops, and I turn to him with wide eyes, "You wouldn't."

"I wasn't going to," He laughs, "until you brought Evie into it."

There's no time for expletives because everyone's started singing their assigned sounds forcing me to join, while Ben brings us in.

_Hopefully no one is filming this._

* * *

 

Several embarrassing minutes later I'm walking over to the four Isle kids, who are physically trying to hold back their smirks.

"Nice song," Jay smirks, causing me to angle my glare his way, "It was really something."

"What he means to say is that it was really good." Carlos adds, interrupting me shooting daggers at the other boy.

I smile at the white haired boy "Thank you, Carlos."

"Yeah," Mal drawls, "I didn't know you could sing."

"What can't I do?" Flipping my hair over my shoulder, I continue, "The answer is nothing."

"Okay, we should probably stop before her head explodes." Evie suggests, causing everyone to agree and me to huff dramatically.

"Meanies."

Jay and Carlos wander over to the chocolate fountain, bypassing all the treats to dip and just sticking their heads underneath the dripping liquid. Mal, Evie and I stand there watching for a while before Ben is calling her over, Evie nudging her excitedly.

"Evie!" My cousin appears from behind the girl, his father and my uncle Dopey following behind him, "I wanted you to meet my Dad."

I can see my own father making his way over.

"Y-your da-dad?" The poor girl stutters nervously.

"Evie, this is my father, Dopey. Dad this is Evie." Doug introduces them as I take Dude from the girl's arms.

"It's nice to meet you, sir." Evie finds her voice, a slightly apologetic look adorning her face, "I'm really sorry."

Out of all the dwarves, Uncle Dopey is the nicest, so she really lucks out with him not holding a grudge or anything. I mean, none of my uncles really hold a grudge. My Dad may be a little grumpy—pun not intended—, but he'd never be intentionally rude to the girl.

"For what?" Uncle Dopey asks, "There's no bad blood here."

"Really?"

"I don't see why there would be," Dopey fumbles with his cup, "both my niece and my son seem fond of you and their great judges of characters, so it's wonderful to meet you."

"You too, sir." Evie looks a little more relaxed.

He waves her off, "Please, call me Dopey."

My father decides to make his presence known, cutting in between my uncle and Evie, holding out his hand, "I'm Grumpy, but you can call me Mr. Grumpy, or sir."

"Ha, ha, my dad the kidder," I pat him on the shoulder more harshly than necessary, catching the nervous look creeping back up on Blue's face, "He's kidding, Evie."

"Am I?" Dad narrows his eyes at me and purses my lips.

" _Yes_."

"It's wonderful to meet you, Mr. Grumpy." Evie laughs nervously, stepping closer to Doug and I.

Dad holds the look for a moment longer before his face smooths out, a friendlier smile taking the place of the frown. "Gracie's right, I'm only joking. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Evie."

Once that train wreck of an introduction is over, the conversation flows much easier and everyone seems much more at ease. Soon Mal is rejoining us and searching her best friends face for any sign of discomfort, once again proving that she does care, before informing her that they've been invited to play croquet with the King and Queen.

"You coming, Grace?" Evie turns back to me after receiving a nod from Mal.

I look over to Dad, who gives me a nod. "Your Uncle and I are going to have a talk with Doug here, go have fun."

"Thanks, Daddy." I kiss his cheek and wave patronizingly at my cousin, who I know is in for an interesting conversation. "Bye Dougie." Before following the two girls to the quad, where the croquet stuff is set up.

Everything is going surprisingly well. Mal, The King, Jay and Ben are getting along, while Evie chats with Belle, and Carlos plays with Dude.

I look over in Mal's direction just in time to see a familiar older woman talking to her.

_Queen Leah._

Audrey joins them and my feet move before my brain can process it because I know that it's going to get bad.

"Hey, Mal, maybe we should-,"

But it's too late, there's a flicker of recognition in Queen Leah's eyes before she points a shaky finger everything going to hell.

_"It's you!_ "


	10. Family Day Part 2

I can practically see the tension in the air after Queen Leah’s exclamation. If I wanted to, I could probably reach out and touch it with my fingertips. For a moment, nobody moves, letting the woman stare in shock at the purple haired girl, who looks slightly sympathetic.

“How are you here?” Queen Leah gasps, gripping Audrey’s hand tightly, “And how have you stayed so young?”

_Wait a second…she thinks Mal is Maleficent? Hasn’t she watched the news lately? Ben’s proclamation was the top story for weeks._

Everybody seems to move at once. Fairy Godmother comes up behind Queen Leah, while the Isle kids move a bit closer and I follow Ben to stand next to him while he tries to fix the miscommunication.

“Queen Leah, it’s ok.” He puts his arm around Mal, who’s visibly shaken. “Maleficent is still on the Island, this is her daughter Mal. Don’t you remember my proclamation to give the new generation a chance?”

The older woman clearly isn’t buying it, “A chance to what, Ben? Destroy us?” She then starts droning on about poison apples, spells, missing Auroras first steps blah blah blah.

Someone clearly needs to build a bridge and get over it.

“They really aren’t evil, Queen Leah.” My attempt is drowned out by Chad cutting in when Mal is trying to apologize on her mother’s behalf, causing my blood pressure to sky rocket at the stupid boy.

“Don’t do this, Chad.”

“What?” The Charming boy asks, “What do you think villains teach their kids? Kindness? Fair play? No way! Uh uh!”

And just when I thought he’d reached his douchiest, he begins calling them out individually. I can practically feel the steam blowing out of my ears.

“You stole another girl’s boyfriend.” He directs at Mal.

Pointing a finger at Jay, “You enjoy hurting people.”

“And you,” He glares at Evie, “you’re nothing but a gold digger and a cheater.”

I clench my fists tightly to stop myself from sucker punching the idiot, but Blue is capable of defending them all because she marches forward, “Mirror, mirror in my hand, who’s the biggest jerk in the land?”

 _Ha! I knew the mirror was magic_ , I think as a picture of Chad appears in the center of the mirror.

There’s no time to laugh at the joke because Chad pushes Evie’s arm roughly sending the girl stumbling, and causing a chain reaction.

Pushing up my imaginary sleeves, I beat Jay to Chad and pull my fist back before throwing forwards into Chad’s cheek, a satisfying crack sounding afterwards that may or not have been my hand.

I’ll worry about that later.

I jump onto the boys back, wrapping my legs around him and yelling, while Jay grabs his shoulders and screams at him from the front.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Evie pulling something out of her bag and stepping closer.

The last thing I remember is breathing in a blue mist and losing my grip on Chad, falling to the ground with a soft thud.

* * *

 

“Grace,” Someone is shaking me, “Grace, wake up.”

Rolling over in my bed, I cover my eyes with my arm, “Five more minutes, Lonnie”

_Wait, Lonnie? She’s not my roommate._

Now that I think about it, my bed is a lot harder than usual, and my alarm is the _Circle of Life_ , not the sound of people talking.

It takes a moment to blink away the brightness of the sun, but once I do, I realize that I’m definitely not in my room. My hand is throbbing and looking down, I can see a bruise forming across my knuckles.

Wonderful.

Everything floods back at once.

Queen Leah and Mal, Chad being an asshole and me punching him. A smile tugs at my lips at the memory, before remembering what happened afterwards, being knocked out by whatever was in Evie’s vial.

I’m sure that she was aiming at Chad, I just happened to be collateral damage.

Lonnie and Aziz are leaning over me, worried looks on their faces.

“What was in that perfume bottle,” I whisper, “and how can I get some? That stuff would make an awesome sleep aid.”

Both of my friends look incredibly relived.

“Thank godmother, Grace.” Lonnie hugs me tightly, “We didn’t know what she sprayed you with.”

“Yeah,” Aziz adds, “I can’t believe they did that.”

“Hey!” I glare at them, before turning it on Chad, who’s whining like a baby, “This wasn’t their fault, you saw what Chad was doing!”

They exchange a long glance before Aziz sighs, “G, I know you’re friends with them but that was really bad. No matter what happened and who’s fault it is, because they’re from the Isle, people are going to blame them first.”

“We know that it was Chad’s fault,” Lonnie’s helping me up as she speaks, “but not many people are going to see it that way. They’re the kids of some of the most dangerous villains.”

“Is that all you see them as? Future villains?”

It’s not fair of me to put them on the spot, especially because Aziz is directly affected by Jay being here, but I can’t help myself.

Lonnie and Aziz both look away, small frowns on their faces, unable to disagree with my statement.

“Okay, then.” I spot Ben talking to his parents nearby and head in that direction. “I’ll talk to you guys later.”

Ignoring their protests, I march across the grass and stand next to the future king, who’s in a similar argument with his parents.

“This isn’t their fault!”

“No, Ben,” King Adam’s voice is deep and steady, “it’s yours.”

They turn and walk away to talk to F. G., leaving both of us standing their in shock. I can’t believe that all these people are so blind. They were standing right there when Chad started it!

“I have to find Mal,” Ben mutters, “to make sure she’s okay.”

Following behind the boy, my guilt at knowing about the love potion reappears and urges me to speak.

“Ben,” I clear my throat, “there’s something you should know.”

“What is it?”

“Um, well,” Now that his eyes are on me, the words turn to mush in my mouth, “I’m pretty sure Mal used a love potion on you.”

“I know,” He starts walking again, heading for the picnic tables.

“I’m so sorr—wait what?” I nearly choke, “You knew?!”

“Yeah,” Ben shrugs, leaving me behind in my shock, barely answering with a, “Since our first date.”

Reaching out, I to tug him to a halt, “You’ve known since your first date and you didn’t tell me?”

“Apparently, you’ve known since before that, so technically, I should be asking you that,” For the first time in his life, he has a smirk on his face.

“In my defense, I thought it was a prank,” He looks skeptical at my words, so I pout pathetically, “and I was going to tell you! I just…forgot.”

Ben pulls me along since my hand is still firmly attached to his arm, “We can talk about your lack of ethics later.” I scoff at the thought of anyone putting me and ethical in the same category, “Right now I want to find Mal and them so I can apologize for Chad.”

“Shouldn’t Chad be the one apologizing for Chad?” My statement catches up with me, “Yeah, never mind. Audrey shaving her head is more likely than that, which if I’m being honest, I would pay to see.”

“Grace, focus!”

“Sorry!”

Before we find the Isle kids, Ben forces me to see the nurse, who informs me that I’ve broken my hand and sprained my wrist. While she can heal my hand with magic, she leaves my sprained wrist because it’s not ‘severe enough’ to warrant another healing potion. Why she couldn’t just heal them both with the same potion, I’ll never know.

All I do know is that I have to wear this stupid sling for an entire week or so.

So, after that fun field trip, Ben leads me back in the direction of the picnic tables once again where a bunch of my fellow students are gathered at some tables, and Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos are moping at another.

Mal is sitting with her spell book the table, Carlos’ hands are folded next to Evie, who’s picking at some food, and Jay is seated on top of the table looking away from them.

“Hey, guys,” Ben claps his hands together awkwardly, that crazy forced excitement in his eyes, “how is everyone?”

Unsurprisingly, he gets no response.

“I feel like the silence answers the question.” I ignore the glare he levels at me and wave my hand in front of Jay’s face, “Hello?”

Ben pushes my hand away from the other boy before I can get a reaction and continues trying to fix everything. “Listen, forget about it, it was nothing. Forget about it. Let it go.” He stands behind Mal, who looks almost green, with his hands on her shoulders, “Tomorrow, after the coronation, I promise everything will be okay.” He leans over and whispers in his girlfriends ear, “I have to go, I’ll see you guys later.”

“I don’t,” I squish between Evie and Carlos as the soon-to-be king walks away, “what are we eating.”

The answer that probably wouldn’t have come anyway is interrupted when Doug walks up to the table with his jacket slung over his shoulder. “Listen, Evie, I want to talk about earlier today, I just-”

“Doug!” Chad, who I hadn’t noticed and wish I still hadn’t noticed, calls from the table behind us, looking pissed.

Blue gets out a quick apology before Chad calls his name again.

“Doug!”

“What?” He hisses.

“Doug…” Evie whispers.

The way I say his name is a bit more venomous, “Doug.”

“Sorry, I can’t.” Doug shakes his head sadly, taking a seat at Charming’s table.

“Blue,” She shrugs off the hand I place on her shoulder and shoves her plate forward harshly, “don’t worry, I’ll beat some sense into my idiot relative.”

And here comes my favorite person in the entire world.

“How long does she think that’s going to last?” Audrey slinks up to the table with Jane, who will also be getting a beat down later. “Mal is just the bad girl infatuation.” The purple haired girl purses her lips, but that’s all the reaction she gives.

“Yeah,” Jane ignores my warning glare in favor of impressing ‘Ms. Priss,' “I mean, he’s never going to make a villain, a queen.”

Both of them leave with at the absolute worst evil laugh I’ve ever heard.

Flipping through her spellbook, Mal utters out a familiar spell, “Beware, forswear, undo Jane’s hair.”

She waves her finger and there’s a high pitched scream followed by laughter.

Audrey and Mal proceed to have a small word battle before Mal threatens Audrey with magic and all they girls run off screaming.

“As fun as this has been,” I lift myself up from my bench, “I’ve got a cousin to talk too, a roommate to beat some sense into, and a whole lot of other people to kick the crap out of,” Smiling sweetly, I squeeze Blue’ shoulder and wave to the rest who are out of reach, “See you guys later and don’t worry about everyone else,” I throw in a quick wink, “they’ll probably be talking about me running around half naked next week and this will be long forgotten.”

They remain silent, understandably, so I shrug and march off to my first destination where I know I’ll find my cousin.

* * *

 

“Ohhhh Dougie!” I call out after opening the glass door to the library with my good arm, “I have some words for you.”

The boy is sitting at a table in the far corner, behind a stack of books with his head laying on the wooden surface, “Please don’t hit me, I feel bad enough as it is.”

“It’s your lucky day,” Doug looks up as I pull out the chair across from him and knock over his tower of books, “there are other people I need my good arm for hitting today and your at the bottom of the list.”

“ _Shhhhhhhh_!”

“What are you even doing here?” The elderly librarian lady glares at me as I speak, “Nobody comes to the library on Family Day!” She raises an eyebrow, “Okay, fine. Two people come to the library but there’s no need to be super quiet!”

She shoots me one last dirty look before disappearing into the shadows of a book shelf.

I can still feel her watching me, “Who hired that lady? She’s seriously creepy.” Doug doesn’t respond to my obviously important statement, so I go back to my original train of thought, “What the hell was that back there at the picnic tables?”

“I have no idea,” He groans, probably kicking himself internally, “I was going to tell her I was on her side, but then Chad was there and everyone else was watching,” The table shakes as he thumps his head against it, “and I just chickened out. I’m such an idiot.”

“Dude, your like the poster child for peer pressure.” Patting his back, sympathetically, but not disagreeing with his words, “You should take a page from my book and not care what everyone else thinks, life’s much easier that way.”

My cousin is thoughtful as he listens to, what in my opinion, is some million dollar advice, “But what should I do? Evie’s never going to forgive me!”

“I can tell you that Blue is definitely a little peeved at you,” I quickly add when I see the devastation flicker across his face, “but, from what I’ve seen, she really likes you, and if you apologize and buy her lots of fabric, she just might forgive you.”

“You think so?”

“Am I ever wrong?” Doug looks sheepish, “I’m going to ignore that expression and take your silence as an agreement.”

“Thank you, Grace!” He scrambles up from the table frantically, “I have to get to work straight away! I owe you one!”

“Go get your girl!” I call after him, before saying, “Actually, you owe me more one!”

“ _Shhhhhhhhh_!”

The sudden noise makes me jump and knock my hip against the table, “Okay, okay! I’m leaving!” I can’t see her, but I know she’s there, “You should really work on not creeping the heck out of children, lady.”

There’s no response as I shut the door behind me and turn left towards the dorms to find my next victim.

* * *

 

Much to my disappointment, I don’t get to give my roommate the beat down I was planning on.

When I make it to our dorm room, Jane is curled up on her bed, bawling, and clutching her pillow to her chest tightly. The pent up anger I’ve had against the girl for the past couple of week immediately melts away.

Instead, I make my way over to the bed, sitting on the edge and resting my hand on her knee, “Jane…”

Let me tell you, Jane is not a pretty crier.

She turns to face me and in any other situation, I’d probably be laughing at how closely she resembles a clown. Her nose and eyes are red, and her mascara is running down her face, leaving dark tracks down her cheeks. The girl’s old, short hair is back and a tangled mess.

“Oh, Grace!” She cries, a fresh batch of tears leaking out of her eyes, “I was _so_ mean and I feel so bad!”

I want to smile reassuringly, but my face remains neutral, “Are you apologizing to me, or are you talking about a certain group of transfer students.”

“Both!” Jane sits up against the wooden frame, “I don’t know what I was thinking. All of the sudden I was pretty and popular and Audrey wanted to hang out with me!” She shrinks under my glare, “Everyone started talking to me, but Audrey told me I had to start asserting my dominance and I got carried away. I should never have listened to her, or have been so rude to the VKs. I’m so sorry!”

Pushing myself up the mattress to sit next to Jane, I sling my arm around her shoulder and let her rest her head on my shoulder, “That was exactly what I wanted to hear, but you should be apologizing to four other people, too, not just me.”

“I know!” She nods jerkily, “I’ll do it right away!”

“I’d wait a bit longer,” I pull her back, “I’m positive that they’re still fuming, so if you’d prefer not to be turned into an animal or inanimate object, I’d wait until they cool off some.”

Jane’s eyes widen, “Of course.”

We sit in silence for a while, the only sounds being some muffled laughter from outside and my roommate’s occasional sniff.

“You know,” I say, breaking the silence, “I was going to kick your ass,” She stiffens under my arm, “but I think a picture of your face right now would suffice.”

“What? No!” She protests but I’ve already snapped a photo with my phone before she can cover her face. “I look so ugly!”

I place my phone down on the mattress and turn back to her, “Jane, you’re not ugly. Whatever Audrey or any of her minions said about you isn’t true. If there’s one thing I agree with your mother about, it’s that your beautiful just the way you are, and a different hair style isn’t going to change that.”

“Seriously?”

“As serious as that midnight deadline F. G. gave to old Cindy.” I wink, causing her to smile and in turn, making me smile.

Jane reaches around my waist and hugs me tightly, “Thank you, Grace. I know we haven’t spent much time together lately, but I love you.”

“Love you, too, J.”

Even though so many things have gone wrong today, at least I could help Jane realize she’s so much more than her hair, and way better than Audrey, in looks and personality.

Let’s just hope that this coronation goes smoothly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there's chapter 10! I hope you liked it and I hope you all have as wonderful day! There's probably only one or two chapters left and it might take me a little while to update due to college and my equestrian team shows, so please be patient with me.


	11. Coronation Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I hope this chapter makes up for it!

Despite what I thought was a successful attempt at making my friend and roommate see that looks aren’t everything, Audrey and her group of princess wannabes had ruined that barely three hours later.

Jane and I had been getting dinner, my usual table with the Isle kids being completely empty, when the annoying royal decided to pull one of her stunts.

_“So, did you get to say goodbye to your dad?” Jane asks, placing a caesar salad on her plate and grabbing a juice._

_“Yeah,” I grab a plate of pizza, fries and a water bottle, “He found me after I talked to Doug and before I got back to our dorm.” Smiling at the memory, “I thought I was in trouble at first, but then he clapped me on the back and told me how good that punch was.” I state proudly._

_My friend smiles as we pass the lunch lady, “You’re just lucky my mom has bigger things on her plate or you’d have a whole lot of detentions or another couple months in Remedial Goodness.”_

_Shivering at the thought, I scan the room once more for my other friends, before sighing and leading Jane towards the empty table, anyway. “It’s horrible, Jane! Your mom thinks I’m an idiot. I know that you don’t do the thing that sounds the least bit fun.”_

_“Sure you-“_

_The girls voice stops abruptly, and I turn to her just in time to reach out and grip the back of her shirt, saving her from a major face plant._

_But apparently not the salad dressing that’s now splattered across her blue shirt._

_“Oopsy!” The high pitched voice that haunts my nightmare, giggles, “I guess I didn’t see you, Jane.”_

_Even though it made her a little nasty, it’s a shame all the confidence Jane had disappeared with her long hair._

_She squeaks, unable to face the mean queen and I step forward, moving into Audrey’s personal space. “Are we going to have a problem, Audrey?”_

_“No,” She stands her ground, I’ll give her that, “but the problems you have, are enough for the entire student body.”_

_“You know that beautiful black eye I gave your boyfriend?” My lips pull up into a smirk when her eyes lower down to the sling holding up my left arm. “Well, I could give you a matching one, his and hers, and all that cute couple stuff.”_

_Audrey doesn’t respond, but there’s a flicker of fear in her expression that gives me a rush, instead choosing to ‘harrumph’ and march out of the cafeteria._

_Mockingly, I wave after her, “Bye ‘Dree! Can’t wait to see you tomorrow at the coronation!”_

_But the damage is done._

_The happy mood Jane was in after our talk, has done a complete one-eighty and she’s retreated back into her turtle shell._

_Punching Audrey’s lights out has never sounded so enticing._

So that encounter aside, I’m hoping everything is going to start looking up sometime soon. The coronation is today and so far, it isn’t looking like it’s going to turn out to be a good day for me.

Reason one, Jane left super early this morning to perform tasks for her mom, leaving me to my own devices to wake up on time, which didn’t go according to plan. All seven alarms I’d set on my phone last night had gone off without success and I did’t wake up until an hour later than I’d planned.

Reason two, I never picked out an outfit and now my entire wardrobe is on the floor.

And reason three, Aziz will be here in like twenty minutes and I’m still in pajamas.

The listing of all the things that have gone wrong so far in my head is interrupted by three, quick knocks on my door. Nearly, tripping over a pile of clothing, I catch myself on a bed post and make my way to the door, opening it with a frustrated frown.

“I swear to—huh?”

There’s nobody on the other side, but even weirder is that there’s a black garment bag handing on off of one of the notches on the wall next to me. A white envelope with my name written on it in neat cursive is taped to it.

_That’s strange, I haven’t ordered anything._

Still in a hurry, I bring the bag inside and lay it on my bed, before unzipping it and pulling it open, jaw dropping in shock at what I find.

First, is a gorgeous burgundy ballgown that’s slightly poofy with layers of ruffled fabric. It’s probably the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen and there’s also a pair of matching heels that lace up, which I will possibly kill myself trying to walk in. I’m still not sure who it’s from and my first thought is Aziz, but his handwriting is crap, so I pick up the envelope to find out for myself.

_Grace,_

_I started working on this a couple days ago and just finished it this morning and I’d love for you to wear it today. Consider it a thank you for all that you’ve done for us villain kids since we’ve gotten here. I don’t think many others would have been as accepting of us and we’re really grateful. It’s been really wonderful having you as a friend._

_-Evie_

_P. S. Look under the dress._

  
There’s something about the tone of finality in the last sentence of Evie’s note that doesn’t settle well in my stomach. It’s almost as if she was saying goodbye, without using the actual word, but there’ll be time for questions later.

Quickly, I pick up the dress and look underneath, a shit eating grin plastering itself across my face.

My own leather jacket!

It’s also burgundy with black accents and there’s a pickaxe and shovel embroidered on the back in careful detail. My eyes tear up because this is the nicest thing anyone’s done for me since Aziz let me pour the laxatives in Audrey’s smoothie last year.

I’m still a little confused on where Blue managed to procure all these materials from, but yet again, there’ll be time for that after the coronation.

Fifteen minutes later, I’m dressed and ready. The dress fits perfectly, snug but not restricting and the shoes are surprisingly comfortable. Though, I still firmly believe I’ll face plant by the end of the day. Instead of putting on pounds of makeup, I decided to just go with a simple mascara and foundation combo, holding off on the blush because my cheeks are already tomato red.

I pick up my clutch, slipping my phone inside and heading towards the door. I’ll just meet Aziz outside the dorms.

Opening the door, I’m shocked to see someone directly on the other side.

Aziz is standing there, frozen with his hand poised in the air to knock, face flushed red with embarrassment. “H-hey, Grace.” He stutters, “Fancy seeing you here.”

“I live here,” I deadpan, enjoying to way his face turns a deeper scarlet as he scratches the back of his neck nervously.

“I know, I just,” Whatever he was about to say gets stuck in his throat, “W-wow, you look stunning?”

Pursing my lips, I glance down at Blue’s masterpiece before responding, “Are you trying to imply that I normally don’t?”

“Um, I w-well, yo-you s-see-,”

“Don’t hurt yourself ‘Ziz,” I hold my hand out to stop his word vomit, “I know I look stunning all the time, and you look pretty dapper yourself.”

“I do?” He asks himself quietly before puffing his chest and standing taller, “Of course I do.”

“There’s my conceited best friend!”

He ignores my insult in favor of holding out his arm, “If we don’t hurry, we’ll get stuck next to Audrey and Chad. M’lady?”

His words make me giggle and I loop my arm through his and close the door behind me, “You know we’re never going to hear the end of this from Ben and Lonnie, right? They’ve been betting on whether or not we’d ever go on a ‘date’ for years.”

“Yeah,” He breathes, “but it’s totally worth it.”

“Aw,” I coo, “that warms my heart?”

“Really?”

“Actually, no, that was just heartburn.”

Aziz rolls his eyes before letting out a snort and continuing to lead me to his limo.

_Damn these royals and their obnoxiously long vehicles._

____________________________________________________________________________

Getting into the large church where the coronation is taking place is not the walk in the park, I thought it would be, considering I didn’t have to walk at all. What Aziz failed to mention was that all royal families had to ride in carriages to steps of the building.

Normally, this would’ve caused me to beat the boy over the head with the nearest blunt object, but his father, like always, had decided to spice things up.

He had brought the magic carpet.

The only other time I’d ridden the carpet, was one summer in middle school when Aziz had stolen it and rode it the entire way to my house. We’d spent the entire night riding just underneath the clouds.

It was the most fun I’d ever had.

Aladdin and Jasmine rode in the front, with Aziz and I closely behind due to the carpet not being that long. It was a little unnerving having a bunch of random people shouting and waving at you, but that’s just what happens when you hang out with a prince or a princess. You don’t see people admiring me for being the daughter of one of the dwarves who helped save Snow White.

I’m helped off of the carpet by my ‘date’ and we walk up the steps to the church, chatting about random things as we do.

“So,” Jasmine starts from her husbands other side, “will your father be here today?”

“No, he had to go back home.” I tell her, “Apparently, he doesn’t trust anybody else with his business.”

Aladdin laughs and turns to me with a devilish smile that he definitely passed onto his son, “How can one chop wood incorrectly?”

“Oh, believe me, if you’ve ever seen me chop wood, it would make so much sense.” We all share a laugh at that one as we pass through the arched doorway and continue inside, “He’s very serious about selling firewood, since none of the houses in our village have heat.”

“I don’t know how you do it, G.” Aziz slings his arm around my waist, “I would freeze.”

“Me too, but I go to boarding school.”

“Oh, right.”

There’s another round of laughter, this time because of Aziz’s aloofness, when the two people I dislike the most appear in my line of sight, along with my cousin, who for some reason gets to stand right next to Jane and Fairy Godmother.

Behind Audrey and Chad are Queen Leah, Aurora, Prince Phillip, Cinderella and Prince Charming.

I smile politely at all the adults because I promised Ben that I’d behave myself all day, but I can’t keep myself from sticking out my tongue at the two when their family members look away.

Our spot happens to be right next to Doug and Jane, which I’m happy about mostly because my cousin is saving me from what would be a disastrous decision in standing right next to Chad.

Trumpets sound and the chatter in the room dies down, Aziz’s hand sliding down from my waist to fall at his side as the King and Queen enter.

King Adam and Queen Belle are wearing their normal royal attire consisting of a blue suit and sash for the King, and a golden yellow dress for the Queen, crowns adorning both of their heads.

Mal follows shortly after them, looking a little distant while being lead to the front by one of the guards. The guard leaves her a little bit away from the platform where Fairy Godmother’s wand sits, and moves to stand by one of the pillars supporting the building.

As the children’s choir starts to sing, my eyes are drawn upward at the sound and I find my vision focused on three familiar, nervous, faces.

Jay, Carlos and Evie are standing up in the balcony and I can feel their worry from all the way down here. Something in my gut twists at their expressions and a wave of unease washes over me.

I try and reason with myself that it’s just due to the events from Family Day, but now that I’ve watched them a little longer, the nervousness is now more of a grim acceptance.

Before I can alert Aziz to the problem, the large wooden doors swing open and Ben walks in dressed in a blue suit with gold accents similar to his father’s. Everyone bows and curtsey’s as he passes and I give him a reassuring smile when his eyes meet mine before he reaches Fairy Godmother, my unease growing with each step.

The crown is lifted from the King’s head and placed onto Ben’s as he kneels on the steps. Fairy Godmother lifts the glass lid from the wand and removes it delicately before stepping back up to the almost king.

 _Looks like I was freaking out for no reason_ , I think as Ben is sworn in, _everything is going fine._

“I do solemnly swear.” Ben speaks loud and clear.

“Then it is my honor and joy to bless our new k!—”

The wand is snatched right out of her hands.

Its Jane.

_What the f-_

My thought is interrupted by the gasps of shock people let out as Jane waves the wand around in the air frantically, a blue streak of what looks like lightning shooting from the tip through the roof.

People are ducking as the girl waves it around, being thrown about because she can’t control all that power. Fairy Godmother is yelling at her daughter looking torn between disbelief and worry.

“If you won’t make me beautiful, then I’ll do it myself!” She shouts as she continues to swing around, “ _Bibbidi, bobbidi, boo_!”

My feet are moving before I can even think about it, and I duck under the arm Aziz threw out as if to protect me from the uncontrolled bursts of magic. There are more screams, but my only focus is on stopping Jane before she hurts someone or worse.

She’d never forgive herself.

Just as my hands grip the powerful wand, some of the magic seems to kickback, like what would happen when shooting a gun, and I’m thrown backwards in one of the many stone pillars aligning the walls.

All the air is immediately sucked out of my lungs on impact and I’m pretty sure there’s a distinct _crack_ that I’m seriously hoping was the stone and not what’s causing the shooting pain in my chest.

“Grace!”

It’s said by multiple different people and I can make out two distinct shapes directly in front of me. Doug and Aziz swim into focus as my vision clears but that’s not what catches my attention.

“Are you okay, Grace?” Doug reaches out for me but I shove him to the side with what little strength I have.

Aziz seems to get the message and moves on his own accord, allowing me to take in the scene behind him.

Mal has taken the wand from Jane and is now looking at it with a strange look in her eye. Ben stands in front of her with his arms out placatingly.

“Mal,” He says firmly, “give me the wand.”

“Stand back!”

The other three Isle kids rush through the doors to stand behind her, making something click inside my brain.

 _All the interest in the wand, Maleficent’s odd behavior during the video chat, the_ love _spell. They must have been planning this from the start._

“Ben, I said stand back!”

 _But no, I’ve spent time with them. They aren’t evil, just a little misguided. There has to be a reasonable explanation for this,_ I think as I use a shocked Aziz to lift myself painfully to my feet.

“I told you!” If I could, I’d punch Audrey so hard right now.

Mal shifts towards her and Ben reaches an arm out to block her, but that’s not what draws my attention.

It’s the scared look on the purpled haired girls face.

In fact, it’s all of their faces.

None of them looks like they’re enjoying this.

“Let’s go.” Carlos speaks.

“Revenge time?” Jay asks in a monotone.

“You really want to do this?” Ben asks, searching for something in her eyes.

Mal sighs in frustration, still holding the wand threateningly, “We don’t have a choice, Ben! Our parents-“

“-your parents made their choice,” Ben cuts her off, “now make yours.”

There’s a moment of silence where even if I could breathe without pain, I still wouldn’t. My brain forgets how to do it while Mal looks around desperately before lowering the wand just an inch.

“I think I want to be good.”

_Thank the lord._

I feel a rush of pain as my body remembers it needs oxygen and I sag against Aziz in relief.

“You are good!” Ben’s smile is as bright as the sun.

Mal isn’t as thrilled, “How do you know that?” She screams, wand still being gripped tightly in her white knuckled hands.

“B-because I’m listening to my heart.” The sap responds in a way only he could.

“I wanna listen to my heart, too,” Mal slowly lowers the wand all the way before turning to her friends, “and my heart is telling me that we are not our parents.” She looks at Jay, “I mean stealing things doesn't make you happy. Tourney and victory pizza with the team makes you happy.”

Jay smiles and Mal turns to Carlos.

“And you, scratching Dude’s belly makes you happy, who would’ve thought?” She glances to Evie next, “And Evie, you do not have to play dumb to get a guy, you are so smart!” They both share a tearful laugh. “And I don’t want to take over the world, it doesn’t make me happy. I want to go to school and be with Ben,” She turns to the boy in question and raises her hand with his ring on it, “because Ben makes me really happy.”

My heart is about to explode from all this sentimental crap.

Or maybe that’s just my lungs.

Whatever.

“Us being friends makes me really happy, not destroying things.” She continues, holding out her fist, “I choose good you guys!”

There’s a brief flash of insecurity across Mal’s face as no one says anything before Jay puts his hand in.

“I choose good.” The son of Jafar smiles.

Evie laughs before joining them, “I choose good.”

“So just to be clear, we don’t have to be worried about how really mad our parents will be?” Carlos’ question makes the other giggle. “Because they’re gonna be really mad.”

Ben steps forward, “Your parents can’t reach you here.” He says reassuringly.

A fourth fist joins the others as Carlos smiles, “Good.”

Mal looks to the now-king before jerking her head towards the others and Ben steps forward to add his hand to the mix, the daughter of Maleficent leaning against him happily.

Everyone claps as the tense atmosphere does a one-eighty back to happy and joyful.

“Well, now that, that’s all settled,” I step forward shakily, watching their joyful looks morph to ones of worry, “I think I need a doctor, or a new rib.” No one laughs and I wobble forward unsteadily, “C’mon that was supposed to be funny.”

Ben and Jay reach out to support me but a loud clap of thunder interrupts them and a plume of green smoke enters through one of the stain glass windows and heads to the floor where a women with a pair of horns and a staff materializes.

“ _I’m back_!” She sings before cackling madly.

There goes my breath again.

Standing directly in front of my friends and I is the one and only,

_Maleficent._


	12. Coronation Part 2

In shock, Doug and Aziz fail to catch me as I tumble on my backside, staring wide-eyed at the most dangerous villain in the history of villains. The entire room is silent as the crowd stares at Mal’s mother.

Maleficent.

“Go away, mother!” Mal seems more annoyed than fearful in my opinion, holding the wand tightly in her grasp.

Her weak attempt at fending off her mother sends the woman in question into a fit of giggles before she points at her child, “You’re very funny.” Maleficent’s face turns serious, “Here! Wand me!”

“No!” Ben shouts.

Instead of handing the extremely dangerous artifact over, Mal tosses the wand back to it’s rightful owner.

Fairy Godmother waves the wand, chanting, “Bibbidi-bobbidi-“

“Boo!” Maleficent mocks, brandishing her staff and with a flash of green, F.G, along with pretty much everyone else, is frozen in place.

The only ones still moving are Maleficent, her daughter, the other three Isle kids, and me. For a moment, I’m not quite sure why I haven’t been put under the same spell as the rest of the room, but distant memory drifts into focus.

_“To protect you from harm,” My mother whispers, shakily clasping the necklace in place and letting her fingers linger on the pendant now hanging from my neck. “and defend you against spells cast for evil.”_

_“It’s magic?” A more innocent version of me stares back at her, eyes wide in wonder._

_“Yes, my child.” She confirms before doubling over in a fit of coughs._

_“Mommy!”_

Slowly, I lift my arms from around the statues that are Doug and Aziz and stumble forward as Maleficent turns from King Adam and steals the wand from a frozen Fairy Godmother’s grasp. Mal and the others are still standing in the same spot, varying expression of fear and defeat.

A strong urge fills me as I slink forward another step, still unnoticed by the non-frozen occupants in the room.

Someone has to stop her.

But I didn’t think in a thousand years that it would have to be me.

“Now where should we begin?” As the villainess ponders, I move a couple steps closer, reaching the edge of the crowd and the corner of the alter where the woman stands. “I know. Why don’t we start by getting rid of this?” Ben’s ring is pulled from Mal’s hand and onto the wand, eliciting a gasp from the girl. “Perfect fit!”

Mustering up the courage to act as Maleficent goes under, I surge forward and grasp the wand once more and look up to meet glowing green eyes.

My friends inhale sharply when they see me.

“Well, well, well.” She doesn’t seem worried, a smirk forming on her lips, “What do we have here? Another Bore-adon student?”

“Maybe,” I growl, “but more importantly, someone who’s going to stop you!”

Maleficent laughs loudly, looking at her daughter, “I like her,” She turns back to me and I shiver as her eyes scan up and down my form, pausing right at my collar bone, “Hmm, someone is protected by some enchanted jewelry, are they?” She hits the ground with her staff and my necklace flies off, stinging slightly. “Too bad it wasn’t a strong enough one.”

In the few moments of surprise, the woman manages to gain the upper hand on our tug of war and I fall backwards as the wand slips from my grasp wincing in pain.

“This is boring me, let’s finish it.” She raises the wand high in the air.

“Mom, no!” Mal’s shouts, voice pained.

“Fine.” The wand lowers, “You're no fun anymore, Mal.”

I let out a sigh of relief that gets stuck in my throat as the wand flicks once more, freezing my entire body and rendering me completely useless.

“Much better.”

It’s unnatural. I can see and hear, but no matter how hard I try, I cannot move. I’m forced to watch as my friends are the only thing that stand between Maleficent and Auradon’s downfall.

Mal pleads with her mother, telling her that she wants love, but the evil woman brushes off her daughter’s wishes and tells her the she has ‘no room for love in her life’.

Something inside Mal snaps as she raises her arm. “Now I command, wand to my hand!”

A glittery golden glow surrounds the wand and an invisible force yanks it from the older woman’s grip and into her child’s, the VK’s staring at it in astonishment.

“It worked!”

Maleficent starts to pace while talking to herself, turning back to Mal abruptly and demanding. “Give me the wand! GIVE ME THE WAND!”

To my surprise, it’s Carlos who speaks up, “Hold on, Mal, maybe good really is more powerful.”

_Go Carlos!_

“Oh please,” Maleficent cackles, “you’re killing me! Woof!”

A bark echoes her own and a little brown blur leaps up onto the villain, causing her to stumble backwards. I knew having a campus mutt would come in handy! In retrospect, a fifteen pound dog is not match for the Queen of Evil, because she quickly gets the dog off of her.

I watch as Jay takes advantage of the distraction and grabs her staff, only for Maleficent’s eyes to grow a bright green, and she leans forward to caress Jay’s arm. She says something about Gaston, then flicks him in the forehead and sends him to the ground.

“That’s enough!” She shouts, spinning in a circle, black smoke curling out around her. “You all will regret this!”

Quickly, the black smoke turns green and something huge emerges.

Holy crap!

I’ve heard the stories but I didn’t believe that she could actually turn into a dragon!

But it’s right in front of me, hovering several yards off the ground and flapping its large wings. I can feel the wind slapping me in the face from the powerful appendages and it gives frozen in fear a whole new meaning.

The large, purple dragon has to be at least thirty feet long, with large horns like Maleficent's and the same glowing green eyes.

Maleficent pays no mind to anyone but the four VK’s as they scramble to get away from her.

The other three are shouting for Jay to move as the beast gets closer, so he gets up and runs up the alter, only for Maleficent to swoop in front of him and roar, flashing large white fangs. Jay turns and bolts the other way with the dragon following close behind.

I close my eyes, knowing its over and not wanting to see the carnage, but someone starts yelling.

“Magic mirror shine a bright light!”

Its Evie, who has her magic mirror in front of her like a shield. I’m forced to squint as the light get brighter, becoming blinding and sending Maleficent careening into the ground. Amazingly, she manages to avoid hitting any of the other frozen bystanders which seems like a miracle to me.

Maleficent recovers, roaring again and stepping closer to the group.

“Leave my friends alone!” Mal shouts, stepping between the dragon and her friends. “This is between you and me, mother!”

Her mother roars once more and steps closer, eyes glowing green.

Mal’s eyes are the same piercing color.

“The strength of evil’s as good as none when stands before four hearts as one.”

_The strength of evil’s as good as none when stands before four hearts as one_ , I repeat the girl’s chant in my head, not knowing what else to do.

Mal moves forward one step, repeating herself and maintaining eye contact. She chants the words even louder twice more. The room falls into silence, tension building as everyone waits with bated breath to see who comes out victorious.

Suddenly, the dragon shakes its head, letting out a shriek and becoming shrouded in the green smoke once more before disappearing.

Mal had…won.

_Holy Godmother! Mal had beat Maleficent._

For a second, none of the four know what to do. They just stand there, breathing deeply as if waiting for a trick. It’s no trick, because Fairy Godmother unfreezes and Mal looks relieved.

They all rush forward.

“What just happened?”

“I have no idea!”

“Did you do it?”

“I don’t know!”

“No, no, no!” F.G. meets them halfway. “Your mother did. She shrank to the size of the love in her heart.” My eyes, the only thing I can move, follow their gazes to the carpet where a tiny, black and purple lizard stands. “That’s why it’s so itty bitty.”

Mal squats down, the older woman copying her. “Is she going to be like that forever?” The girl asks.

I can’t see her face from this angle, but I assume that Fairy Godmother is smiling softly. “Well, forever is a long time. You learned to love, so can she.”

“I believe this belongs to you.” Mal returns the wand to it’s rightful owner.

F.G. picks up Ben’s ring. “And I believe this belongs to you.” She straightens up, waving her wand. “ _Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo_!”

Instantly, the room unfreezes, and I can finally let out that sigh of relief as Ben roars and charges forward towards nothing.

I regret it, though, because now the feeling of pain has poured back into me since the spell stopped me from feeling it. Just as I’m about to tumble backwards, two arms catch me under the shoulders.

Aziz is grinning at me stupidly when I tilt my head back to see who caught me. “Wow, G, who knew that you’d literally _fall_ for me.”

“Ugh.” I grunt through the pain. “You had so many things you could’ve gone with, and you chose that?”

“Yep.” He says, popping the ‘p,' as if we just weren’t about to be taken over by the villains.

“Whatever.”

I watch as Mal and Ben share a moment, Jane is berated by her mother, and the King and Queen straighten themselves out. I’m pretty sure Audrey actually apologized to the purpled haired girl but maybe that’s just a hallucination brought on by the pain.

“Mind helping me over there?” I ask the boy who is basically supporting my entire body. He hums in agreement and helps me stagger over to the group.

“Well, well, well.” I drawl out, looking less cool than I wanted to when they turn to face me, due to me leaning onto Aziz like my life depended on it. “Look who the heroes are now.”

“Hey, I’m really sorr—,” Mal starts, looking nervous.

“Whoa, no need for apologies.” I wave her off. “As you already know, I’m responsible for my own action. I may not always think them through,” That elicits a laugh from the group. “but that’s just part of my charming disposition.”

Aziz chokes. “Okay, I don’t think I’d quite describe it like that.”

“I’m sure you might have seen him around, but this is Aziz, an idiot that I sometimes grace with my presence.” I weakly punch the boy in the shoulder, wincing when the movement jars my ribs.

“Maybe you should see a doctor, Grace.” Evie suggests, eyeing me worriedly. “That looked like it hurt.”

“I’ll be fine.” I tell her, grinning reassuringly. “Besides, isn’t there a party somewhere?”

Everyone exchanges looks, probably having forgotten about the big after-party that’s supposed to happen after the coronation. Excited talk is interrupted by one of the royal guards placing the wand’s glass covering over Maleficent.

“Be careful!” Mal says, but smirks. “That’s my mom.”

We all laugh and I’m gently pulled into a group huddle, between Ben and Aziz.

“Let’s get this party started!” Jay says, looking around at all of us.

“ _Oh-way-oh-way-ay_!” I shout at the ceiling, along with the rest.

The motion causes me to break from the group, to bend over and wheeze. “Okay.” I grit through my teeth. “Maybe I do need to see a doctor.” There’s a mumble of agreement. “Then we party.”  
____________________________________________________________________________

As it turns out, I had cracked three ribs when I was sent flying into the marble column, which F.G. was thankfully able to heal so that I could attend the party.

I love that woman.

Before heading to the quad, where the party would take place, I stopped at my room to grab the jacket Evie made for me. I slipped it on and quickly went to find my friends.

The front of the school was lit up with multi-colored strobe lights and disco balls, music thumping through the speakers. It looked like just about everyone was here.

“Hey!” Someone taps my shoulder, yelling to be heard over the noise.

Turning around, I’m met with a whole lot of blue and a tiara.

“What’s up, Evie?”

“You’re wearing the jacket!” She points out, smiling widely.

“Heck yeah I am!” I laugh, brushing my hand over a section of cool leather. “I’m never taking it off! Thank you, Evie.” I allow a quick hug. “But, I’m still mad that you gave it to me when you were planning to take over Auradon.”

Her grin falters.

“I’m kidding! Sheesh! You Isle kids need to lighten up.” Her happiness returns when I slap her on the shoulder lightly, before spotting Doug coming up behind her. “Is that person wearing orange and blue?!”

“What?! Where?!” She frantically turns around, only to find my cousin standing there nervously.

Doug holds out a hand. “Would you like to dance?”

“I’d love to.” She breathes, letting him lead her over to the dance floor and waving to me.

I wave back and gaze around to see that everyone else is dancing, seeming as though they’d rehearsed it for weeks. Sometimes I wonder if I was in some kind of movie.

“Heh-hem.”

Jumping, I look left to see Aziz standing there, holding out his hand with a stupid look on his face. “My lady?”

I bite my lip as I consider his offer, shrugging and taking his hand when I find no reason to decline. We run up the steps where the others are still dancing and join in. Everyone dances for hours, switching partners and then dancing in groups. I’m pretty sure I even saw Mal and Ben kissing when the fireworks went off.

All I know is I’m going to need to sleep in tomorrow.

Maybe the school will cancel classes.

Probably not, but a girl can dream.


End file.
